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MEMOIRS

OF THE

PRINCE DE TALLEYRAND

VOL. II-

TALLEYRAND

PRINCE DE BENEVENTO, VICE GRAND ELECTOR OF THE EMFHE
FROM THE PAINTING BY PRUD'HON

MEMOIRS

PRINCE DE TALLEYRAND

EDITED, WITH A PREFACE AND NOTES, BY

THE DUC DE BROGLIE

OF THE FRENCH ACADEMY

TRANSLATED UY

RAPHAfeL LEDOS DE BEAUFORT, F.R.HiST.S.

WITH AN INTRODUCnON BY

THE HONORABLE WHITELAW REID

AMERICAN MINISTER IN PARIS.

VOLUME II

H'lTH PORTRAITS.

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

NEW YORK LONDON

37 VTBST TWENTY-THIRD ST. 27 KING WILLIAM ST., STRAND

189I

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

Ubc ■Rnicfeetbocftet prcse
■Rew SJorl!

CONTENTS.

FART VI.

napoleon's marriage, his brothers, his struggle with PIUS VII.

i8og — 1813.

Talleyrand marries his nephew with the daughter of the Duchess of Courland —
Napoleon's marriage with the Archduchess Marie-I.ouise — Napoleon's dream
of universal domination — His brothers and his sisters' husbands — Why he
gave them thrones — Joseph in Naples — Murat succeeds him — Murat endeav-
ours to shake off the yoke of Napoleon — Murat's ambition — Napoleon and his
brother Louis — Westphalia — King Jerome and the Germans — Joseph in Spain
— Lord Wellington — The French driven from Spain — Blunder of Napoleon
in Spain — Differences between Napoleon and the Fope — Fersecution of Pius
VII. — Negotiations between the First Consul and Pius VII. — Some bishops
decline to resign their sees — The Concordat — La petite Eglise — Home regu-
lations concerning Public Worship — Cardinal Caprara — Coronation of
Napoleon — Pius VII. at Paris — Napoleon crowned King of Italy at Milan —
Refusal of the Pope to recognize Joseph as King of Naples — Occupation of
Rome by General Miollis — Annexation of the legations of Urbino, Ancona,
Macerata, and Camerino — Imprisonment of several cardinals — Disarming of
the Papal [guards — Annexation of the Papal States to France — Protest of
Pius VII. — The bull of excommunication — Arrest of the Pope — The King of
Rome — Meeting of an ecclesiastical commission — Had the Pope any right to
refuse the buU of confirmation to the French bishops ? — Did the French
Government infringe the clauses of the Concordat by invading Rome ? — The
Church in Germany and Italy — Measures to be taken to thwart the effect
of the buU of excommunication — Considerations on the Commission — Cardinal
Maury and the Pope's brief — Inconsistency of Pius VII. — Arrest of Abbe
d'Astros — Cardinal di Pietro — Severe measures against the Pope — Summoning
of a second ecclesiastical commission — Can bishops accord dispensations ? —
Are Papal bulls indispensable to obtain the canonical confirmation ? — Interven-
tion of the Bishop of Nantes — Napoleon agrees to summon a council and
to negotiate with the Pope — Pius VII. withdraws his bull of excommuni-
cation— The liberties of the' Church of [France — Pius VII. adheres to a

CONTENTS.

modification of the Concordat, with regard to the canonical confirmation
of bishops — Misgivings of the Pope concerning the meeting of a council
— Inutility of the latter — Napoleon insists on the meeting of the Council
— Opening of the Council — The bishops at St. Cloud — Napoleon takes
Cardinal Fesch to task — Dignified attitude of the latter — Napoleon flies
into a passion — Je suis Charlemagne — The Emperor's message to the
Council — Address of the Council in reply — Napoleon declines to receive
it — The Council declares its incompetence to decide the question pending
between Napoleon and the Pope — Wrath of the Emperor on hearing this
— Napoleon's projects defeated by the Council — The Council dissolved by
imperial decree — Imprisonment of three bishops — Re-assembling of the Coun-
cil— The imperial decree adopted and sent to the Pope for his approval-
Brief of Pius VII. approving the decree — Inconsistency of Napoleon — Re-
turns the Pope's brief— Transfer of the Pope to Fontainebleau — Interview
between Napoleon and Pius VII. — Signature of a new compact, which was not
to be divulged — Breach of faith of Napoleon — Retractation of the Pope —
Napoleon vainly tries to renew the negotiations — Return of Pius VII. to
Rome — Political blunders of the Emperor in the course of the negotiations
with the Pope . . Pages 1-95

PART VII.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE, THE RESTORATION.
1813 — 1814.

against the Provisory Government — The English Government and Napoleon

Louis XVIII. and the Prince Regent of England— Baron de VitroUes at the

headquarters of the allied sovereigns — Talleyrand and the Baron de VitroUes

Interview between the latter and Count von Stadion— Prince Metternich and

A^lit^UlCUli A lie glCiiL UCCLl UX lliUIUpC A UC ICglLllllclljy Ul gU VCi llillCllia V» llj*

Talleyrand supported the claims of the Bourbons — Napoleon's opinion of the
Bourbons — Capitulation of Paris — The Czar and the King of Prussia in Paris
— March past of the allied troops in the Champs Elysees — Talleyrand and the
Czar Alexander — Negotiations relative to the recall of the Bourbons — The
Czar Alexander amazed — The return of Louis XVIII. voted by former regi-
cides— M. de Caulaincourt and Talleyrand — Declaration of the allies to
Napoleon — The Provisory Government— Entrance of the Comte d'Artois into
Paris — Interview between Talleyrand and Louis XVIII. at Compiegne — The
Saint-Ouen proclamation — Return of Louis XVIII. to Paris — The Charter —
Talleyrand appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs — The situation of France
compared with Europe on the morrow of Napoleon's fall — The conventions
between the Comte d'Artois and the Allies — Treaty of peace between Louis
XVIII. and the Allies — Additional Articles — Separate and secret Articles to
the Treaty of Paris — Decision relative to the assembling of a Congress at
Vienna — Talleyrand's letter to the Czar Alexander— Instructions of Louis
XVIII. to the French plenipotentiaries to the Congress of Vienna — Various
considerations on the condition of Europe and the respective situations im-
posed by Napoleon on its different States — How these are to be remedied by
the Congress of Vienna . Pages 96-197

PART VIII.

CONGRESS OF VIENNA.
1814 — 1815.

Talleyrand's arrival at Vienna — Dispositions of the Allies towards France — The
position of the French plenipotentiaries at the Congress — Difficulties to be
contended with — Opening of the Congress — The intentions of the first-class
Powers — Talleyrand finds unhoped-for support in Spain and the second-class
Powers — Want of courtesy towards Talleyrand — Defeats the aim of the
Allies — The first meeting of the Congress attended by Talleyrand — Prince
Mettemich's speech — Talleyrand's reply — Puissances Alli/es — Count de
Labrador's motion in support of Talleyrand's proposals — Embarrassment of
the plenipotentiaries of the allied Powers — The Congress agrees to the an-
nulling of the protocols of the preceding sittings — Distribution of the work of
the Congress — Change of disposition towards France — The anniversary ser-

CONTENTS.

ice of the death of Louis XVI. — The Congress at work — The fate of the
Kingdom of Saxony and of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw — Prussia's designs —
Talleyrand demurs to the recognition of her claims — The sacred principle of
legitimacy — Suum cuique — The laxity of the public law of Europe — Growing
tendency to uphold usurpations — Indifference of the Allies as to the rights of
the House of Bourbon — Obstacles encountered by Talleyrand in enforcing the
triumph of legitimacy — Hostile attitude of Russia towards France — Compro-
mise offered — "I am not here to strike a bargain ! " — " No compromise with
principles ! " — England backs up the views of Russia and Prussia on Saxony
— Her delusion — Doubtful attitude of Austria — Talleyrand wins her support
— He succeeds in dispelling the prejudices of England — A secret alliance
between France, Austria, and England, against Russia and Prussia — The
prestige of principles — Discord among the Allies — Prussia gives way — Napo-
leon's return from Elba — Anxiety of the Congress — The Comtesse de Brionne
— " Politics must wait ! " — Indecision of the King of Saxony — His interview
with Metternich, Wellington, and Talleyrand — A plenipotentiary of Saxony
at the Congress — Russia compelled to desist — The deliberations of the Con-
gress concerning Poland— France disposed to admit the restoration of inde-
pendent Poland — Russia's Ministers give in — Ferdinand IV. and Murat — The
latter defeated by the Austrians — Talleyrand created Due of Dino — Sardinia
and the House of Carignan — Switzerland's neutrality — The Netherlands —
The German Confederation — Louis XVIII. at Ghent — The Congress, at
Talleyrand's suggestion, denounces the usurper — The Powers rush to arms —
Louis XVIII. admitted into the Alliance of Europe against Napoleon — Cor-
respondence exchanged between Louis XVIII. and Talleyrand at the Con-
gress— Text of the secret Treaty of Defensive Alliance, concluded January 3,
181 5, between Austria, France, and Great Britain — Napoleon acquaints the
Czar Alexander with the text of the above-mentioned Treaty — Interview
between Alexander and Prince Metternich — Napoleon's aims defeated — In-
dulgence of the Czar for Prince Metternich — The Czar Alexander incensed at
Talleyrand's duplicity . . . Pages 198-392

ILLUSTRATIONS

Talleyrand — Prince de Benevento, Vice Grand Elector of the

Empire, from the painting by Pnid'hon . , . F^-antispiece

Charles Maurice Talleyrand . Facing page 160

Charles Maurice Talleyrand, from an early portrait. (Reprinted

by the courtesy of the Cosmopolitan Magazine) . . Facing page 288

MEMOIRS

OF THE

PRINCE DE TALLEYRAND.

PART VI.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS— HIS
STRUGGLE WITH PIUS VIL

1809 — 1813.

Talleyrand marries his nephew with the daughter of the Duchess of
Courland — Napoleon's marriage with the Archduchess Marie-Louise —
Napoleon's dream of universal domination — His brothers and his
sisters' husbands — Why he gave them thrones — Joseph in Naples —
Murat succeeds him — Murat endeavours to shake off the yoke of
Napoleon — Murat's ambition — Napoleon and his brother Louis —
Westphalia — King Jdr&me and the Germans — Joseph in Spain — Lord
Wellington — The French driven from Spain — Blunder of Napoleon in
Spain — Differences between Napoleon and the Pope — Persecution of
Pius VII. — Negotiations between the First Consul and Pius VII. — Some
bishops decline to resign their sees — The Concordat — La petUe Eglise —
Home regulations concerning Public Worship — Cardinal Caprara —
Coronation of Napoleon — Pius VII. at Paris — Napoleon crowned King
of Italy at Milan — Refusal of the Pope to recognize Joseph as King of
Naples — Occupation of Rome by General Miollis — Annexation of the
legations of Urbino, Ancona, Macerata, and Camerino — Imprisonment
of several cardinals— Disarming of the Papal guards — Annexation of
the Papal States to France— Protest of Pius VII.— The bull of excom-
munication—Arrest of the Pope— The King of Rome— Meeting of an
ecclesiastical commission — Had the Pope any right to refuse the buU of
institution to the French bishops .' — Had the French Government
infringed the clauses of the Concordat by invading Rome ? — The Church
in Germany and Italy — Measures to be taken to thwart the effect of
the bull of excommunication — Considerations on the Council^Cardinal
VOL. II. B

2 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Maury and the Pope's brief — Inconsistency of Pius VII. — Arrest of
Abbd d'Astros — Cardinal di Pietro — Severe measures against the Pope
— Sxunmoning of a second ecclesiastical commission — Can bishops accord
dispensations ? — Are papal bulls indispensable to obtain the canonical
institution? — Intervention of the Bishop of Nantes — Napoleon agrees
to summon a council and to negotiate with the Pope — Pius VII. with-
draws his bull of excommunication — The liberties of the Church of
France — Pius VII. adheres to a modification of the Concordat, with
regard to the canonical institution of bishops — Misgivings of the Pope
concerning the meeting of a council — Inutility of the latter — Napoleon
insists on the meeting of the Council — Opening of the Council — The
bishops at St. Cloud — Napoleon takes Cardinal Fesch to task — Dignified
attitude of the latter — Napoleon flies into a ■passion— Je suis Charlemagne
— The Emperor's message to the Council — Address of the Council in reply
— Napoleon declines to receive it — The Council declares its incompetence
to decide the question pending between Napoleon and the Pope — Wrath
of the Emperor on hearing this — Napoleon's projects defeated by the
Council — The Council dissolved by imperial decree — Imprisonment of
three bishops — Re-assembling of the Council — The imperial decree
adopted and sent to the Pope for his approval — Brief of Pius VII. approv-
ing the decree — Inconsistency of Napoleon — Returns the Pope's brief —
Transfer of the Pope to Fontainebleau — Interview between Napoleon and
Pius VII. — Signature of a new compact, which was not to be divulged — •
Breach of faith of Napoleon — Retractation of the Pope — Napoleon vainly
tries to renew the negotiations — Return of Pius VII. to Rome — Political
blunders of the Emperor in the course of the negotiations with the Pope.

On leaving a position long stirred by the illusions and
excitement of power, I had to think of creating one which,
though affording me needed rest, might offer interesting and
pleasant occupations. Home-life alone can replace all chimera ;
but, at the time of which I speak, home-life, sweet and calm,
existed for but very few people. Napoleon did not allow any
one to grow fond of it ; he believed that, to serve him, people
should have no proper home. Carried away by the rapidity of
events, by ambition, by the interest of each day ; placed in that
mist of war and of political activity which hovered over all
Europe, everybody was prevented from paying any attention to
his own situation ; public life held too much room in his mind
to allow of his giving a single thought to private life. People
went home but accidentally, because it was necessary to take rest
somewhere ; but no one was prepared to make his home an
habitual abiding-place.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 3

I was, like anybody else, placed in that position which
explains the indifference everybody displayed in all the acts of
his life, and that I regret having displayed in several of my own.
It was then that I sought to marry my nephew, Edmond de
P^rigord.^ It was important that the choice of the wife I should
give him should not awaken the- susceptibility of Napoleon, who
did not wish to have the destiny of a young man who bore
one of the great names of France escape his jealous influence.
He believed, that, a few years before, I had influenced the
refusal of my niece, the Comtesse Just de Noailles,^ whom he
had demanded from me for Eugene de Beauharnais, his adopted
son. Whatever choice I might make for my nephew, I should
still find the emperor dissatisfied. He would not have allowed
me to choose in France, for he reserved for his devoted generals
all the good matches found there. I bent my looks elsewhere.
I had often, in Germany and Poland, heard much said of the
Duchess of Courland.^ I knew that she was distinguished by the
nobleness of her sentiments, by the elevation of her character
and by the most amiable and brilliant qualities. The youngest
of her daughters was then marriageable. This choice could
but please Napoleon. It did not take away a match for his
generals, who would have been refused, and it must even have
flattered the vanity he displayed in trying to attract to France
great foreign families. This vanity had, some time before, led
him to have Marshal Earthier marry a princess of Bavaria. I
resolved therefore to demand for my nephew the Princess
Dorothee Courland, and in order that the Emperor Napoleon
should not, by reflection or by caprice, withdraw an approbation
once given, I solicited from the Emperor Alexander, particular
friend of the Duchess of Courland, the favour of asking him-
self the hand of her daughter for my nephew. I had the

1 Alexandre-Edmond de Talleyrand-Perif^ord, bom August 2, 1787, afterwards
Due de Dino, and later, Due de Talleyrand-Perigord.

2 Fransoke de Talleyrand-Perigord, daughter of Archambauld Joseph, Comte, then
Due de Talleyrand-Perigord, brother of the author. Born in 1785, she married in
1803 Just, Comte de Noailles, and later Due de Poix, who was ehamberlain of the
emperor. She died in 1863.

3 Charlotte-Dorothee, Countess of Medem, widow of Pierre, last Duke of Courland
and of Semi;ialle, bom Febraary 3, 1761, married November 6, 1779. Widowed
January 13, 1800. Died August 20, 1821. „• j • 0.=

* Dorothee, Princess of Courland, bom August 20, 1793. Died in i!i62.

B 2

4 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

happiness of obtaining it, and the marriage took place at Frank-
fort-on-Main, April 22, 1809.

While determining to no longer take part in anything done
by Napoleon, I remained sufficiently acquainted with current
affairs to be able to judge well of the general situation, to
calculate what must be the date and veritable nature of the
catastrophe which appeared inevitable, and to seek means for
warding off from France the evils this must produce. All my
antecedents, all my former relations with the influential men of
the different courts, assured to me facilities for being informed
of all that took place. But I must at the same time give to my
manner of living an air of indifference and of inaction, which
should not offer the least ground for the continual suspicions of
Napoleon. I had the proof that one already ran risks by no
longer serving him, for, on different occasions, he showed
great animosity towards me, and several times publicly gave
way to violent temper. This did not annoy me, for fear has
never entered my nature ; and I might even say that the hatred
he manifested against me was more harmful to him than to me.
If it were not for anticipating in the order of time, I would say
'that this hatred maintained me in my independence and decided
me to refuse the portfolio of Foreign Affairs, which he offered
me later with much persistence. But at the time this offer
was made to me, I already regarded his fine 7-6le as finished, for
he no longer seemed to apply himself to anything but destroying
the good he had done. There was no longer any possible trans-
action for him with the interests of Europe. He had outraged
at one and the same time kings and nations.

Whatever need people in France felt of deluding themselves,
they were forced to recognize in the continental blockade, in the
natural although dissimulated irritation of the deeply-wounded
foreign cabinets, in the sufferings of industry bound by the pro-
hibitive system, the impossibility for a state of things which
offered no guarantee of tranquillity for the future to endure.
Each victory, that of Wagram even, was only an obstacle the
more to the strengthening of the emperor, and the hand of an
archduchess which he obtained soon after, was only a sacrifice
made by Austria to the necessities of the moment. Napoleon

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 5

might well attempt to represent his divorce as a duty he fulfilled
solely to assure the stability of the Empire ; no one was deceived,
and it was plainly seen that, in marrying the archduchess, he
only sought one more satisfaction for his vanity.

The details of the council where the emperor put in delibera-
tion the choice of his new empress are not without a certain
historic interest ; I will give them a place here. For a long time
Napoleon had caused it to be circulated in his court and in
public that the Empress Josephine could not have any more
children, and that Joseph Bonaparte, his brother, who had neither
glory nor intellect, was incapable of succeeding him. This was
circulated abroad, and from there was brought back to France.
Fouche took care to spread these reports by his police ; the Due
de Bassano instructed in the same manner the literary men :
Berthier took the military in hand ; as has been seen at the
interview at Erfurt, the Emperor Napoleon unbosomed himself
in that respect to the Emperor Alexander ; finally all was ready,
when in the month of January, 18 10, the emperor summoned a
council extraordinary, composed of great dignitaries, ministers,
the Grand Master of Public Instruction, and two or three other
non-military eminent personages. The number and quality of
the persons who composed this council, the silence observed as
to the object of the meeting, the silence still lasting for some
minute seven in the hall of assembly, all proclaimed the import-
ance of what was going to take place.

The emperor, with a certain embarrassment and an emotion
which appeared to me sincere, spoke mainly in these terms : —

" I have not renounced without regret, assuredly, an union
which shed so much sweetness over my domestic life. If, to satisfy
the hopes that the Empire places in the new ties that I must
contract, I consulted only my personal feeling, it is from the
midst of the young pupils of the Legion of Honour, among
the daughters of the brave men of France, that I would choose
a companion, and I would give to the French for empress
the one whose qualities and virtues would render her most
worthy of the throne. But it is necessary to make concessions
to the customs of the times one lives in, to the usages of other
States, and above all to the propriety which policy makes it a

6 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

duty to observe. Some sovereigns have desired the aUiance of
my relations, and I believe there is now not one to whom I could
not with confidence offer my personal alliance. Three reigning
families could give an empress to France ; those of Russia,
Austria, and Saxony. I have summoned you in order to
examine with you which of these three alliances is that to which,
in the interest of the Empire, preference should be given."

This discourse was followed by a long silence which the
emperor broke by these words : " Monsieur the Arch-Chancellor,
what is your opinion .-' "

Cambaceres, who appeared to me to have prepared what he
was going to say, had raked up from his recollections as member
of the committee of public safety, that Austria was and always
would be our enemy. After having developed this idea at some
length, supporting it by many facts and precedents, he finished
by expressing the wish that the emperor should marry a grand-
duchess of Russia.

Lebrun,! putting aside policy, employed plainly all the
motives drawn from habits, education, and simplicity, to give
the preference to the court of Saxony, and voted for that
alliance. Murat and Fouch6 thought the revolutionary interests
more in safety by a Russian alliance ; it appears that both found
themselves more at ease with the descendants of the Czars than
with those of Rudolph of Hapsburg.

My turn came ; there I was in my element ; I discharged
my task tolerably well. I was able to sustain by excellent reasons
that an Austrian alliance would be preferable for France. My
secret motive was that the security of Austria depended on the
resolution the emperor was going to take, but that was not the
place to say it. After having briefly set forth the advantages
and the inconveniences of a Russian marriage and of an Austrian

1 Charles Lebran, bom in 1739, was in 1768 revenue officer, and inspector-general
of the royal domain. He was the friend and devoted assistant of Chancellor Maupeou.
He was dismissed in 1774. Deputy of the Third at the States-General, then adminis-
trator of the department of Seine-et-Oise, he was arrested in 1794, and not released
until after the 9th Thermidor. He was named deputy to the Council of the Elders in
1796. After the l8th Brumaire, he became Third Consul, arch-treasurer in 1804,
Prince and Due de Plaisance in 1808, lieutenant of the emperor in Holland in 1810.
In 1814, he was appointed Royal Commissioner at Caen and peer of France. During
the Hundred Days, he accepted both the imperial peerage and the functions of
Grand Master of the University. He died in 1824.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 7

marriage, I gave my voice for the latter. I addressed myself to
the emperor, and as a Frenchman demanding of him that an
Austrian princess might appear in our midst, in order to absolve
France in the eyes of Europe and in her own eyes, of a crime
that was not her own, and which belonged entirely to a faction.
The term "European reconciliation" that I employed several
times, pleased several members of the council, who had had
enough of war. In spite of some objections the emperor made
to me, I saw well that my advice suited him.

M. Mollien ^ spoke after me, and sustained the same opinion
with the shrewd and brilliant mind that distinguished him.

The emperor, after having heard every one, thanked the
council, said that the sitting was closed, and retired. On the
same evening, he sent a messenger to Vienna, and at the end of
a few days, the French ambassador wrote that the Emperor
Francis granted the hand of his daughter, the Archduchess
Marie-Louise to the Emperor Napoleon.

To connect this union to the glory of a conquest made by
his army. Napoleon sent the Prince de Wagram (Berthier) to
wed the Archduchess by proxy, and gave to the Mar^chale
Lannes, Duchesse de Montebello (her husband had been killed
at Wagram) ^ the place of lady of honour. As it would not do
to omit the oddities of these times, I must call attention to the
fact that, at the moment when the cannon announced to Paris
the betrothal at Vienna, the letters from the French ambassador
brought the news that the last treaty with Austria was faithfully
executed, and that the cannon were blowing up the fortifications
of Vienna. This remark shows with what strict exactness
Napoleon treated his new father-in-law, and proves well that
peace was then for him only a truce employed in preparing new
conquests. Thus all nations were fretting; all the sovereigns
were uneasy and anxious. Everywhere Napoleon caused the
growth of hatred, and invented difficulties, which, in the long

1 Comte Mollien, born at Rouen in 1 758, was first clerk of the comptroller-general
in 1789. He was arrested in 1794 as an accomplice oiXhafermiers-ghiSraux, but was
saved by the 9th Thermidor. On the l8th Brumaire, he became Director of the
Sinking Fund, Counsellor of State in 1804, Minister of the Treasury in 1806 : he
remained at this post until 1814, and resumed it during the Hundred Days. He was
created a peer of France in 1819. He died in 1850.

Marshal Lannes was killed at Esling, and not at Wagram.

8 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

run, must become insurmountable. And, as if Europe did not
furnish him enough, he created himself new ones, by authorizing"
the ambitions of his own family. The fatal word that he had
uttered one day, that before his death his dynasty would be the
most ancient in Europe, made him distribute to his brothers and
to the husbands of his sisters the thrones and principalities that
victory and perfidy put into his hands. It was thus he disposed
of Naples, Westphalia, Holland, Spain, Lucca, even Sweden,
seeing that it was the desire to please him that had caused
Bemadotte to be elected Prince Royal of Sweden.

A puerile vanity urged him on that path which offered so
many dangers. For, either these newly-created sovereigns re-
mained in his great policy, and became its satellites, and then it
was impossible for them to take root in the country confided to
them ; or they must reject it more quickly than Philippe V.
had discarded that of Louis XIV. The inevitable divergence
existing between people soon alters the family ties of sovereigns.
Thus each of these new creations became a principle of disso-
lution in the fortune of Napoleon. It is found everywhere in
the last years of his reign. When Napoleon gave a crown,
he desired that the new king should remain bound to the system
of this universal domination, of this grand Empire of which I
have already spoken. The one, on the contrary, who mounted
the throne, had no sooner seized the sceptre, than he wished for
undivided power, and resisted with more or less audacity the
hand which sought to subject him. Each of these improvised
princes believed himself placed on a level with the most ancient
sovereigns of Europe, by the sole fact of a decree and a solemn
entry into his capital occupied by a corps of the French army.
The vanity which led to show independence made him a more
dangerous obstacle to the projects of Napoleon than would have
been a natural enemy. Let us follow them a moment in their
royal career.

The kingdom of Naples, with which I will begin, had been
conferred, these were then the official terms, March 30, 1 806, upon
Joseph Bonaparte, the eldest brother of the emperor. It was
desired to give to his entry into this kingdom the air of a con-
quest, but the fact is, he must have read with some astonishment

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 9

in the Momteur the recital of the so-called resistance with which
he met.

At the end of four months the new king was already in a
quarrel with his brother. Joseph resided but a short time at
Naples ; circumstances led him soon to Spain. Power, during
his sojourn at Naples, had been for him only a means of amuse-
ment ; and, as if he had been the fifteenth of his race, he looked
on to see how his ministers would extricate themselves, according
to the expression of Louis XV., from the daily embarrassments
of the government. On the throne he sought only the sweet-
ness of private life and facile libertinage which great names
rendered brilliant.

To Joseph succeeded Murat, whose grand duchy of Berg no
longer contented him. He had no sooner set foot beyond the
Alps, than his imagination presented to him already the whole
of Italy as being his one day. By the treaty which secured
to him the crown of Naples, he was bound to maintain the
constitution given by his predecessor, Joseph. But as this
constitution was not yet executed except in its administrative
part, he left to one side the change in the civil and criminal laws
that he had promised to make, and did not show himself in any
haste to terminate the financial organization of the country. In
order to facilitate the receipts and increase the revenues, he
commenced to abolish all the feudal rights. Incited by his
minister Lerlo,^ he desired that this operation, which he only
considered from the fiscal side, should be immediately carried
out. And the commission instituted to this effect pronounced
on all the litigations existing between the lords and the parishes
in a manner to favour the parish only ; and this was being done
at the very time when Napoleon was seeking to found again an
aristocracy in France and to create entailed estates. The result
of this operation was not only to despoil the Neapolitan barons
of all the feudal rights and of all the payments in kind to which

' Giuseppe, Count Lerlo, bom in 1759 at Naples, was Director of the Finances
in 1798. In 1806, he accompanied King Ferdinand to Palermo, but joined Murat
in 1809, became Counsellor of State, Minister of Justice and of Worship, and Minister
of the Interior. In 1815, he took refuge in Rome, returned to Naples in 1820, was
appointed Minister of the Interior, but was obliged to retire the same year. He died
in 1828.

10 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

they were entitled, but also to take from them, to the profit of
the parishes, the greater part of their lands, which had been
jointly held for several centuries.

This measure was very detrimental to the fortunes of the
nobles, but it rendered very much easier the assessment of the tax,
and made the latter more productive. Thus, in the space of five
years the Neapolitan government raised its public revenues from
forty-four millions of francs to more than eighty. Some real
ameliorations in the administration, which were the result of the
prosperity of the treasury, directed by the skilful hands of M.
Agar, since created Comte de Mosbourg,^ appeased the first dis-
content of the country, and prevented their reaching Napoleon,
who besides, was disposed to indulgence for Murat. The latter
was still so weak that the emperor felt flattered at being con-
stantly reminded that Murat was also one of his creatures. He
allowed a thousand improper, and sometimes, even very grave
things, to pass unnoticed before making any reproaches to him.
He was bound however to break forth, when Murat ordered that
the French who, on the authority of Napoleon were at Naples,
should take the oath of fidelity to him, and be naturalized in the
country. All were indignant at this demand ; and Napoleon,
forced to extremes, manifested his displeasure with his custom-
ary violence. He gave orders for the French troops who were
in that kingdom to be mustered in a camp a dozen leagues from
Naples ; and from this camp he had it declared that every
French citizen was by right a citizen of the kingdom of Naples,
because by the terms of the decree of its foundation, this king-
dom formed a part of the Grand Empire.

Murat, who, in a moment of impetuosity, had allowed him-
self to take so imprudent a step, persuaded himself that the
emperor would never pardon him, and that there was no other
course to follow than to seek safety in an increase of his power ;
from that time his sole aim was to obtain means to invade all

^ Michel Agar, Comte de Mosbourg, bom iu 1771 near Cahors, was at first a
barrister, and then professor in that city. In 1801, he entered the Legislative
Body, became in 1806 Minister of Finances of Murat, his fellow-countryman, who
had just been created Grand Due de Berg, and accompanied him in the same qualitv
to Naples. He lived in retirement under the Restoration, was elected Deputy of
Lot in 1830, and peer of France in 1837. He died in 1844.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. ii

Italy. The annexation of Tuscany, Rome, Holland and the
Hanseatic cities to the French Empire had already caused him
much uneasiness. The employment, not defined, of this term
Grand Empire, that he had just heard in the midst of his
States, increased his perplexity, and he commenced to reveal
his ulterior views.

The queen, who partook to a certain extent of the fears of
Murat, was not however of the same opinion as he as to the
manner of escaping the projects which might be planned by her
brother. She believed that it was a poor way of preserving a
rule but feebly established, to seek to extend it.

The arrival of Marshal P^rignon,^ at Naples to take the
government of the city, justified, in the eyes of Murat, the
extremities to which he might be carried. And soon, the events
of Europe, in reviving his hopes of ambition and of vengeance,
gave more activity to his combinations. In his twofold idea
of escaping French influence and extending his domination in
Italy, he only thought of increasing his army and of seeking to
open negotiations with Austria, which was more and more
affrighted at the invading policy of the French government.
The queen took it upon herself to write to Prince Metternich,
over whom she believed she still retained some influence, and
whose discretion she had tested. The king, on the other hand,
conducted secretly a negotiation with the English authorities, and
particularly with Lord William Bentinck," who was in Sicily.
The interests of commerce were the pretext of it. Murat,
believing he had grounds for complaint against Napoleon and
for throwing upon him the odium of the prohibitions, indicated

■■ Dominique, Comte, then Marquis Perignon, was an officer under the old rigime,
deputy to the Legislative Assembly, then commander of a legion of the army of
the Pyrenees, he succeeded Dugommier as commander-in-chief. Member of the
council of the Five Hundred in 179S, ambassador at Madrid in 1796, he was after-
wards placed at the head of a corps of the army of Italy, but was wounded and taken
prisoner at Novi. He entered the senate in 1801, was appointed marshal of France
in 1804, Governor of Parma and of Plaisance, and finally commander-in-chief of the
armies of the kingdom of Naples. He was created peer of France in 1814, and died
in 1818.

3 Lord William Cavendish Bentinck (1774-1839), son of the Duke of Portland,
entered the army, became Governor of Madras in 1803, and major-general in 1808.
In this capacity he made the campaigns of Portugal and Spain. In 181 1, he was
appointed commander-in-chief of the English troops in Sicily. In 1827, Bentinck
was named Governor of Bengal, then Governor-General of India. He was recalled
in 1835.

12 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

his disposition to separate from him ; but time for rupture
had not yet come. The Russian campaign had just opened,
and Murat could not refuse to go there with his contingent, as
to the number of which, he, as well as the other allies of the
emperor, was not allowed to decide. The queen remained in
charge of the government. A combination of reason, delicacy
and gallantry gave her more influence and power than her hus-
band had ever had. While Murat was fighting for and serving
in person, the French cause, all his policy was then directed on
a contrary side. This double part rather pleased him ; on one
side he fulfilled his duty towards France and the emperor ;
and, on the other, he believed he was acting as a king, as an
independent prince called to the highest destiny.

When Austria declared against France, and the battle of
Leipzig had marked the limit of the fortune of Napoleon,
Murat hurried to Naples, and from that moment he used all
his endeavours to render his defection useful, for the support of
his crown, and to enter the great European league. He found it
very easy ; the desire of all the Allied Powers to isolate Napoleon,
and the refusal of Eugene de Beauharnais to enter this combina-
tion, rendered the defection of Murat very useful to the united
powers. Napoleon, informed of all that was passing, was not
enlightened in these circumstances either by his genius or by his
counsellors. He should, in his interest, have recalled Eugene
de Beauharnais to Lyons, with all that remained of the
French troops, and have abandoned Italy to the ambitious
dreams of Murat. It was the only means left for preventing his
junction with the Allied Powers, and to provoke, in Italy,
a national rising which in this campaign would have been
of great importance to Napoleon. But his eyes were blind,
and the treason was consummated at the moment when he
believed it useful to speak still of the fidelity of him who, for
several months already, had signed his treaty with Austria.
The intrigues of Murat for arriving at a general domination in
Italy continued none the less ; one could follow the exact traces
of them, until they became, at the Congress of Vienna, a motive
of rupture with him on the part of the Powers. His ruin was
the result of his intrigues.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 13

My object was to point out here as a fact that there was in
the power of Napoleon, up to the point it had now reached,
and in his political creations, a radical defect, which, it appeared
to me, must injure his consolidation and even prepare his fall.
Napoleon delighted in annoying, humiliating, tormenting those
whom he had elevated ; they, placed in a perpetual state of
mistrust and irritation, worked secretly to injure the power
which had created them, and that they already regarded as
their principal enemy.

Under one form or another, the same principle of destruction
of which I have just given details to show the condition of
affairs at Naples, is found in all the establishments of the same
kind that Napoleon had made.

In Holland, he had begun by placing the power, which
was hitherto in the hands of a revocable directory, into those
of a president. He had decided Count Schimmelpenninck,^ to
accept the sovereign power under the title of Grand Pensioner.
Schimmelpenninck was a man of too much sense to believe
that the part he was called upon to play could be anything
but temporary. But the exactions of the French agents,
and the dilapidations of all kinds which were the result,
naturally irritated public opinion in Holland. Schimmel-
penninck had hoped to be of real service to his country by the
momentary credit which was to be the price of his deference
for Napoleon, and to obtain by it better conditions for Holland.
His illusion in this respect could not be of long duration. The
emperor, -vfrho always wished to give the appearance of a
national movement to the crises which he brought on for the
purpose of annihilating the independence of the conquered
countries, encouraged secretly, from the beginning of the acces-
sion of Schimmelpenninck, the complaints of the ancient privi-
leged orders, of the magistracy of the cities, and of the nobility

^ Roger Jean, Count Schimmelpennick, bom in 1761, a Dutch statesman, was
associated with the revolutionary movements which disturbed Holland in 1795. He
was appointed ambassador at Paris in 1798, then at London in 1802. In 1805, the
Dutch Constitution having been transformed at the instigation of Napoleon, he had
to accept the charge of Grand Pensioner. Under the reign of Louis Bonaparte,
Schimmelpennick lived in retirement. After the union of Holland with France, he
was appointed senator. He resigned in 1814, and again become a Hollander, he
was a member of the first Chamber of the States-General. He died in 1825.

14 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

of Holland against the Pensioner, who had come out of the
middle-class ; he sought, at the same time, to rouse the revo-
lutionary spirit of the people, in order to incite them to rise
against the authority that the new order of things accorded
to a single man. But the moderation, the wisdom of the
Grand Pensioner, the profound good sense of the Hollanders,
and the conviction that all attempt at rising would lead imme-
diately to the peremptory intervention of France, decided the
nation to submit quietly to its new government.

The emperor, who saw that his underhanded dealings did
not lead to the end he had purposed, and that it had no effect
upon the country, followed another plan. He got Admiral
VerhuelP to inform Schimmelpenninck himself, and several
prominent persons of the country, that this state of things could
not last, and that it was indispensable for Holland to form with
France a more intimate union, by demanding for sovereign a
French prince. Some explanations made it clear to Napoleon that
union with France was what the country dreaded most, and
he skilfully made use of this disposition to make them almost
desire one of his brothers. He not only promised to preserve
the integrity of the territory, but he added to it Ost-Frise, and
held out to the notable families hopes of all kinds. Schimmel-
penninck was in a state of painful irresolution ; he neither
dared to consult the nation nor to consent to what was exacted.
The step of naming a deputation to go to Paris, and judge there
upon the spot just how far resistance might go, appeared to him
what was most prudent and wise to do. He composed this
deputation of MM. Goldberg, Gogel,^ Six and Van Styrum.
Their instructions, like those of Admiral Verhuell, were to

1 Charles-Henri Verhuell, Count of Sevenaar, born in 1764, entered the navy in
1779. Rear-Admiral in 1S03, he commanded the fleet destined to act against
England, and was named Minister of Marine of Holland. In 1806, he presided over
the commission charged to offer the crown of Holland to Louis Bonaparte. He
became marshal and ambassador at Paris in 1807. In iSii, after the annexation of
Holland to France, he entered the Legislative Body ; he commanded the armies of
the Texel and of the Helder in 1813, and remained faithful to the emperor even to
the last minute. Naturalized Frenchman in 1814, he was created peer of France
in 1819, and died in 1855.

2 Alexander Gogel, born in 1765, a Dutch manufacturer and statesman. He was
Minister of Finances of the Batavian Republic. He was also minister of Kins;
Louis, and became member of the Council of State of France, after the union of
Holland with the Empire. He died in 1821.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. ij,

demur, under any pretext, to the union, and to dismiss all pro-
positions tending to establish a monarchy, by sustaining that
the forms of it were opposed to the customs and habits of the
country.

The emperor knew all that as well as the Dutch deputies ;
but his will was so positive, his vanity was so engaged, that no
consideration, of whatever kind it might be, could prevent these
unhappy negotiators from being led to demand formally that
Louis Bonaparte should accept the crown of Holland. Louis
on his side was constrained to accept it ; thus they erected a
kingdom in Holland. From such an order of things difficulties
could not fail to crop up for Napoleon. And so they did soon,
in endless numbers.

Prince Louis, on arriving at the Hague, received a very cold
greeting. He remained there at first but a short time ; called
by the declaration of war against Prussia, to march at the head
of the Dutch army into Westphalia, he commenced the siege
of Hameln, when this fortress was included in the capitulation
of Magdeburg ; his campaign finished there. Having returned
to Amsterdam, he devoted himself to give Holland an inde-
pendent existence ; hence arose interminable discussions between
the two brothers. A treaty very hard for Holland was the result.

The emperor had it drawn up in a manner to offend his
brother enough to decide him to abdicate. But the irritation
of Louis Bonaparte carried him to extremities of another kind.
He submitted in appearance, signed what was desired, and
immediately opened negotiations with the courts of St. Peters-
burg and of London. His overtures to those two courts how-
ever failed. Then, decided that he was not to carry out the
treaty he had signed with his brother, he prepared for open
resistance; he excited all Holland to war, had fortifications
raised against France, and would not cede even to the force
that Napoleon was obliged to employ against him. When he
saw his kingdom invaded by the army commanded by Marshal
Oudinot, he furtively left the country, and retired to I do
not know what corner of Germany, bequeathing to Holland
all the hatred he bore his brother.^

1 Napoleon had only placed his brother on the throne of Holland to bind that

l6 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

The union of this country to France was the result of his
departure. The emperor enlarged his empire by that, but
diminished his forces ; for he had to employ constantly a portion
of his army to assure himself of the fidelity of his new subjects.
The latter were in much greater fear of the rigorous levies of the
conscription, and of the guards of honour, than they were
flattered to see the fort of Helder become one of the maritime
bulwarks of the French Empire, and the Zuyder Zee furnish a
great school of navigation where there might be exercised the
crews of the fleets that France was building at Antwerp. The
different governments through which Napoleon made Holland
pass completely destroyed the confidence of the people, and
made them detest the name of Frenchman ; but the greatest
difficulties that he had to experience in that country arose, as
has just been seen, there as elsewhere, from his own creatures,
from his own family.

The aggregation of twenty little states, erected by decree
into the Kingdom of Westphalia, in favour of Joseph Bonaparte
his brother, brought new embarrassments to his ambition.
This kingdom, whose population was about two millions of
inhabitants, comprised the whole of the states of the Elector
of Hesse-Cassel. It must be remembered that in Hesse the
will of the sovereign replaced very nearly all institutions,
and that the people, who were not over-burdened with taxes,
did not yet wish for any other mode of government.

Jerome, a short time after his nomination (this was the term

country to the continental system. His task was difficult, for the interests and
sympathies of the Hollanders reconciled them more to England, while the policy of
Napoleon ruined them. King Louis did not wish to, or could not, carry out the in-
tentions of the emperor in his kingdom, and allowed English smuggling to organize on
his sea-hoard. Napoleon complained bitterly, and neglected nothing to constrain
his brother to enter into his views. By the treaty of November II, 1807, he took
away from him Flushing, one of the best ports of Holland, in exchange for some
enlargements of no consequence. The situation remaining always the same, he went
still further, and announced to the Legislative Body that the exigencies of his policy
might force him to annex Holland (Speech of December 3, 1809). Nevertheless,
this extreme measure was repugnant to him : he attempted to avoid it by signing with
King Louis a second treaty (March 16, 1810), by which the latter ceded to him Zealand .
and Dutch Brabant ; at the same time, it was stipulated that the coasts of
Holland should be guarded by French customs officers assisted by a body of troops.
Louis came to Paris to sign this treaty, but, returning to his States, he avoided
applying it. Napoleon soon sent twenty thousand men into Holland. The king,
for an instant, had the thought of resisting, but no one having wished to follow him,
he abdicated and took refuge abroad. Holland was united to the Empire by a
decree dated July I, 1810.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 17

■which the emperor desired to have used), went to Cassel, the.
capital of his States. His brother had given him a kind of
regency, composed of M. Beugnot,i a man of much intelligence,
and of MM. Simeon ^ and Jolivet,* whose directions he was to
follow.

Their portfolios were full of organic decrees of all kinds.
They had at first brought from Paris with them a constitution ;
afterwards they were to adapt to it a judiciary, a military, and a
financial system. Their first operation was to divide the terri-
tory, and to change thus in a moment without the aid of
revolutionary spirit, all the traditions, all the customs and all
the relations that time had established. They then created
prefectures sub-prefectures, and appointed mayors everywhere.
They thus transferred into Germany all the machinery of French
organization, and pretended to have set it in motion. Their
task being over, M. Beugnot and M. JoUivet returned to France.
Jerome Bonaparte hastened to facilitate their going. He
retained M. Simeon as his Minister of Justice, and then he

'Jacques Claude, Comte Beugnot, bom in 1761, advocate to the /"ar/c/Kire^ in
1 782, frocureur- syndic for the department of the Aube in 1 790, deputy to the Legis-
lative Assembly in 1791. He was arrested in 1793, but v^as set free by the 9th
Thermidor. After the l8th Brumaire, he V9as named Prefect of the Lower Seine,
and Councillor of State in 1806. In 1807, he was one of the administrators of the
Kingdom of Westphalia ; Imperial Commissioner and Minister of Finances of the
Grand Duchy of Berg in 1800. In 1814, he was named by the government
Provisory Commissioner of the Interior, then Director-General of the Police. He
passed from that into the navy. The second Restoration made him Director-
General of Post Offices, Minister of State, and Member of the Privy Council. He
was elected Deputy of the Mame. He died in 1835.

2 Joseph Jerome, Comte Simeon, bom at Aix in 1749, was Professor of Law in
that city in 1 789. In 1 792, he was one of the leaders of the federalist movement pro-
voked in the south by the Girondists. He was obliged to flee in 1793, returned to
France in 1 795, entered the Council of the Five Hundred, and became its president.
Proscribed at the 1 8th Fructidor, he was confined on the island of Oleron until
the l8th Brumaire. He was elected Member of the Tribunate of 1800, Coun-
cillor of State in 1804, Minister of the Interior and of Justice, and President of the
Council of State in Westphalia, Minister of Westphalia at Berlin, and to the Con-
federation of the Rhine. In 1814, he became Prefect of the North. Under the
Second Restoration he was Counsellor of State (1815), Under Secretary of
State of the Department of Justice, peer of France, Minister of State and Member
of the Privy Council (1821). He was President of the Court of Accounts under the
monarchy of July, and died in 1842.

' Jean-Baptiste, Comte Jolivet, bom in 1754, was a barrister at Melun in 1789.
Administrator of the department of Seine-et-Marne, then Deputy to the Legislative
Assembly, he sided with the constitutional party, was arrested under the Terror, and
only recovered his freedom after the 9th Thermidor. He became Curator-General
of Mortgages in 1795, Councillor of State after the l8lh Brumaire. Liquidator-
General of the debt of the Departments of the left bank of the Rhine and Minister
of Finances of Westphalia (1807). He retired in 1815, and died in 1818.

VOL. II. C

1 8 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

reigned alone, that is to say he had a court and a budget, or
rather some women and some money.

The court formed spontaneously ; but the budget, raised to the
point where the reserves for Napoleon which were composed of
half the freehold wealth, forced them to carry it, was for the
first years very difficult to establish. This dynasty commenced
where the others finished. They were reduced to expedients
from the second year of the reign. They did not seek these
expedients in economies that might be made, but in the
creation of new taxes. It became necessary, instead of thirty-
seven millions of revenue, which would have been sufficient to
furnish the necessary expenses of the state, to find more than
fifty. For that, they had recourse to a means which displeases
most people ; they issued a forced loan, which, according to the
ordinary result of this kind of tax, caused many exactions and
was not half covered. From thirty-seven millions the needs and
expenses eventually rose to sixty. The court of Cassel had the
pretension to rival the splendour of that of the Tuileries. The
young sovereign so gave way to all his inclinations, that I have
heard it said by the grave and truthful M. Reinhard,^ then
minister of France at Cassel, that, with the exception of three
or four women respectable by their age, there was scarcely one
at the palace over the fidelity of whom His Majesty had not
acquired some rights. Great though was the vigilance of the
beautiful Frau von Truchsess and of Madame de la Fl^che,
who had also to watch over the doings of the young Prince of
Wiirtemberg. ^

The luxury of the court, its disorders, and the uneasy state
of the country caused the detestation of France and of the

^ Charles-Frederic, Comte Reinhard, born in 1761, entered diplomacy as First
Secretary at London in 1791. It was there he made the acquaintance of M. de
Talleyrand. He went to Naples in 1793, became ; in 1794, head of a section of the
department of Foreign Affairs. In 1795, he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary
in the Hanseatic cities and afterwards in Tuscany (1798). In July, 1799, he succeeded
Talleyrand as Minister of Foreign Affairs, then was named successively minister to
Helvetia (1800), at Milan (1801), to Saxony (1802), to Moldavia (1805), to Westphalia
(1805-1814). In 1815, he entered the Council of State, was afterwards minister to the
German Confederation (1815-1829). The Government of July appointed him minister
at Dresden (1830), and peer of France (1832), He died in 1837. M. de Talleyrand
pronounced his eulogy at the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences.

" The Prince Royal of Wiirtemberg, having quarrelled with the l^ing, his father,
had taken refuge at that time with his brother-in-law Jerome Bonaparte, married to
the Princess Catherine of Wiirtemberg.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 19

emperor, to whom all was attributed, and if this uneasiness did
not produce an immediate outbreak, it was because the natural
resignation of the Germans was increased by the terror caused
by the close alliance of the King of Westphalia with the colossus
of French power. How must the grave universities of Gottingen
and Halle, of which J^rdme was sovereign, have looked upon
this unbridled luxury, this disorder, so foreign to the simplicity,
the decency and the good sense for which this part of Germany
was noted ? So, when in 1 8 1 3, the Russian troops entered
Westphalia, Jerome's subjects regarded that moment as that
of their deliverance. And yet the country fell again under the
domination of that Elector of Hesse, who, thirty years before,
sold his soldiers to England.^

The luxury of these courts founded by Napoleon, we may
remark here, was absurd. The luxury of Bonaparte was neither
German nor French ; it was a mixture, a species of learned
luxury ; it was taken from every place. It had some of the
gravity of that of Austria, something European and Asiatic
drawn from St. Petersburg. It paraded some of the mantles
taken from the Caesars at Rome ; but, in return, it showed very
little of the ancient court of France where dress concealed so
happily magnificence, under the spell of all the arts of taste.
That which this kind of luxury set off above all, was the absolute
lack of propriety ; and, in France, when propriety is too much
lacking, mockery is near at hand.

This Bonaparte family, which arose from an obscure island,
hardly French, where its members lived in a state of parsimony,
having as head a man of genus, whose elevation was due to a
military glory acquired as the leader of republican armies, them-
selves the issue of a democracy in ebullition, ought indeed to
have discarded the former luxury, and have adopted, even for the
frivolous side of life, an entirely new route. Would it not have
been more imposing by displaying a noble simplicity which would
have inspired confidence in its strength and in its duration.?
Instead of that, the Bonapartes were mistaken enough to

1 Willkm IX., Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, Elector in 1803, despoiled of his states
in 1806. He recovered his possessions in 1814. He died in 1821.

C 2

20 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

believe that, to imitate in a puerile manner the kings whose
thrones they had taken, was one way of succeeding them.

I wish to avoid all that has a libellous appearance, and I have
besides no need of citing proper names to prove that, by their
morals also, these new dynasties have injured the moral power
of the Emperor Napoleon. The morals of a people in times of
trouble are often bad ; but even when the mob has all sorts of
vices, its morality is severe. " Men," said Montesquieu, "corrupt
in detail, are very honest men in the main." And these honest
people are they who pronounce upon kings and queens. When
their judgment is a blame, it is very difficult for a power, above
all a new one, not to be shaken by it.

Spanish pride did not allow that great and generous
people to concentrate its hatred so long as that of Westphalia
had done. The perfidy of Napoleon gave it birth, and Joseph
from his arrival in Spain fed it each day. He was persuaded
that to speak ill of his brother, was to separate from him ; and
that to separate from his brother was to take root in Spain.
Hence he adopted a conduct and a language always in strict
opposition to the will of the emperor. He never ceased saying
that Napoleon despised the Spaniards. He spoke of the army
that attacked Spain as being the refuse of the French army. He
related all that could most injure his brother. He even went so
far as to reveal the shameful secrets of his family, and that some-
times in full council. " My brother is acquainted with only one
government, " said he, " and that is a government of iron ; to
accomplish that all means are good to him ; " and he stupidly
added, " I am the only honest man in my family, and if the
Spaniards wished to rally around me, they would soon learn to
fear nothing from France." The emperor, on his side, spoke
with the same impropriety of Joseph ; he covered him with
scorn, and that also before the Spaniards, who, led away by their
own exasperation, ended by believing them both, when they
spoke of one another. The irritation of Napoleon against his
brother made him act always on the first impulse in the affairs
of Spain, and made him commit, incessantly, grave mistakes.
The two brothers counteracted each other in all their opera-
tions ; it was never possible for them to agree together upon

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 21

any plan of political action, any financial plan, or military
arrangement.

It was important to establish a supreme command, to have
an invading army and an army of operations, to agree as to
means of nourishing, clothing, and paying his troops. All that
could lead to this result failed successively, either through
Napoleon's consideration for his generals, on whom he was
known to rely, and who ever alleged, often in their personal
interest, this trite pretext : the safety of the army I have the
honour to command, demands such or such a thing ; or else,
everything failed on account of the private policy of Joseph,
which tended constantly, in opposition to his brother, to make
all the expenses of the war fall upon France. The emperor,
in order to avoid the obstacles that Joseph opposed constantly
to the execution of his designs, ordered his generals to correspond
directly with the Prince de Neufchatel, his major-general. They
all did so, but without mutual agreement, solely enlightened by
their interests ; in nearly all their correspondence, they desired
the emperor to renounce his project of securing Spain there to
establish a prince of his family, and to seek solely to parcel it
out like Italy, and to distribute its principalities, duchies, and
entailed estates, as rewards amongst his brave lieutenants. I
have been told that the Due d'Albufera, ^ who was rather a
wit, added that this would be going back to the times of the
Moorish princes, vassals of the Caliph of the West.

What was going on in the quarters of the French generals
was known week by week at Cadiz, and from there all over the
kingdom ; and one can judge of the intensity that the fear of
such prospects gave to the Spanish resistance. So, the French
generals might conquer indeed, they always found new enemies
before them, and there were no points really subdued, except
those covered by French troops ; and even their communications
were constantly cut off by guerrillas.

1 Louis-Gabriel Suchet, bom at Lyons in 1772, enlisted in 1791, became general
in 1796, and head of the staff of the army in Italy in 1799. He played a brilliant
part in the wars of the Empire until 1808, when he was sent to Spain, where his
gallant conduct won for him the staff of marshal of France, and subsequently the
title of Due d'AIbufera (1812). He became peer of France in 1814, and died in
1826.

22 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

As for Joseph, he only accorded his favours to a few French-
men discontented with the emperor, who had embraced his cause ;
these new Castilians slipped into all the offices of the court, civil
and military ; they had penetrated into the Council of State ;
treated the Spaniards with insupportable haughtiness ; flattered
the vanity of the king in every way, and never failed to revile
his brother. The hatred for the emperor was manifested as
much in the palace of the king as in the hall of the Junta at
Cadiz.

What could be the fate of an enterprise where the leaders
were in open opposition to each other, and where -means
were enfeebled by the successive recall of troops already
acclimatized, but who were wanted, perhaps against Austria,
against Russia, and who were replaced by wretched
recruits .'

The emperor having again met at Wagram the good fortune
which, for a time, had abandoned him at Lobau, had persuaded
himself that the submission of Spain would follow the peace he
had dictated at Vienna ; but it was not so at all. This peace
exercised no influence over the affairs of the Peninsula ; resist-
ance had had time to organize, and it had done so everywhere.
Napoleon believed then that he must make a great effort and
he made it, but in a wrong sense. He started with a false idea ;
he believed he would make a good bargain with the Spaniards
by driving Lord Wellington from Portugal. Marshal Massena
displayed wondrous ability in and brought enormous resources
to bear on this operation, which proved fruitless, and the success
of which would, in any case, have been of insignificant influence
on the point at issue. It was the whole Spanish people which
had risen — which was armed, and which must be subdued.
And supposing even the emperor to have succeeded in
destroying armed resistance, there would not have remianed
for long years a secret opposition — the most difficult of all to
destroy .'

Joseph, whom the other enterprises of his brother, left a little
more to himself and to his own methods, recognized at last
that it was the people who were his veritable enemy. He
then did all to win them ; his ministers spread pamphlets

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 23

filled with promises of all kinds ; it was the liberty of the
Spaniards that Joseph desired — it was a constitution adapted
to the customs of the country, the project for which he was
going to submit to the most enlightened men ; he announced
great economies and a considerable reduction of the taxes. In
his proclamations all the revolutionary methods were put in
motion. The Cortes of Cadiz, in order to destroy the effect
of it, immediately vied in liberalism with Joseph, and went
farther on all points than he had done. It was nothing but
decrees from Cadiz, suppressing the Inquisition ; suppressing
feudal rights, privileges, fiscal obstacles between provinces, the

censure of the press, &c And from the midst of these

ruins they brought forth a constitution all democratic ; in which,
however, in order not to frighten too much the friends of mon-
archy, they had placed an hereditary king. But no king would
have been able with dignity, nor even with safety, to occupy
such a throne. The Cortes of Cadiz would have been more
circumspect in re-establishing the fundamental laws of Spain,
so skilfully undermined and finally destroyed by the house of
Austria.

Through all these intrigues. Lord Wellington penetrated
into Spain ; he captured Badajoz from the Due de Dalmatie,^
and Ciudad Rodrigo from the Due de Raguse.^ Once master of
these two keys of Spain at the northern and southern ex-
tremities of the frontier of Portugal, the English general
skilfully deceived the Due de Dalmatie, in making him believe
he wished to fall upon Andalusia, while he bore towards Valla-
dolid on the Douro. The Due de Raguse, on his side, without
waiting for a reinforcement of 15,000 men who were within
reach permitted the Battle of Arapiles ^ to be fought, at
the beginning of which he received a serious wound. The
army, having lost its leader at the outset, was cruelly beaten.
Lord Wellington who, following his successes, had advanced
too far towards the north, did not hesitate, as a prudent man
to take retrograde steps ; he re-entered Portugal, whence the
famous disasters of the campaign of Russia, which obliged

^ Marshal Soult. ^ Marshal Marmont.

» Village of Spain, near Salamanca. The battle was July 21, l8l2.

24 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Napoleon to recall to his side the best troops that remained in
Spain, induced him to dart out again in 1812.

The first news of those disasters had increased the dis-
order which too numerous and unsubmissive leaders fomented
around Joseph ; the loss of the fatal battle of Vittoria ^ was the
result. The Due de Dalmatie, sent with all speed to Spain,
tried to reorganize the remants of the army. He made learned
marches, but they filled no other purpose than to dispute with his
skilful adversary the possession of the southern provinces of
France. Thus terminated this great conquest of Spain, as badly
conducted as it was badly conceived ; and I say not only conducted
by Napoleon's generals, but by himself ; for he, also, had com-
mitted grave military faults in Spain. If, at the end of 1808,
after the capitulation of Madrid, instead of rushing in pursuit
of an English corps which was hastening to embark at Corunna,
and to which he did little harm, he had marched on Andalusia
c^nd had there struck a great blow, he would have disorganized
the resistance of the Spanish generals, who would have had no
other resource than to retire into Portugal.

The emperor, having once lost sight of the true interests of
France, gave himself up, with the irreflection and ardour of
passion, to the ambition of still placing a member of his family
on one of the first thrones of Europe, and, to accomplish that,
he attacked Spain without shame, and without the least pretext
to justify himself; this is what the sense of justice in nations
never allows them to forgive. When one studies all the actions
or rather all the impulses of Napoleon at this all-important
period of his life, one is inclined to believe that he was carried
away by a sort of fatality which blinded his high intellect.

If the emperor had only seen in Spain a ground on which
he could force England to peace, where all the great political
questions then pending in Europe have been decided, and each
sovereign ensured the safe possession of his dominions, his enter-
prise would not have been more justifiable ; but, at least, it would
have been more consonant with the bold policy of conquerors.
I have met a few persons who did not know him, and whose

1 City of Spain, chief place of the province of Alava. The battle was fought
Jvme 21, 1813.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 25

minds, like those of our old diplomatists, being inclined to judge
of events theoretically, supposed he had this intention. And,
the fact is that the Bayonne transaction being revocable at will,
might be regarded as a sacrifice good to make if need were
for the general pacification of Europe ; but from the month of
April, 18 1 2, all makers of political combinations were obliged
to dismiss this hypothesis ; for, at that time, Napoleon refused
the overtures of the British Cabinet, which declared it did not
see any insurmountable difficulty to arrange with him, on all
the points in litigation, if he himself admitted first of all the
restoration of Ferdinand VII. on the throne of Spain, and
that of Victor Amadeus on the throne of Sardinia. If he had
accepted those propositions, he could easily have derived
enormous moral advantages from his sacrifices, and all the
cabinets could have believed that he had only invaded Spain
in the hope of securing a lasting peace for France and of
strengthening his dynasty.

But, for a long time. Napoleon was but little concerned with
the policy of France, hardly with his own. He did not think
of maintaining, but only of extending. It seemed as if the
idea of preserving never entered his mind, and as if it were
opposed to his nature.

Nevertheless, that which he did not do in the proper time,
he was forced to do when it was too late, and without any profit
to his power or to his glory. Sending back the Spanish princes
to Madrid in the month of January, 18 14, and the pope to
Rome at the same time, were only expedients inspired by
distress ; and the sudden and even stealthy manner in which
those measures were taken and executed, deprived them of every
vestige of grandeur and of generosity. But I perceive, I am
speaking of the return of the pope to his States, without our
quarrels with the court of Rome having found a place in this
recital It was, however, too remarkable an event of our times
for me not to give here some of its details.

The differences which arose between Napoleon and the court
of Rome, shortly after the Concordat of 1801, grew still more
acute after the coronation — though those two events ought to
have prevented that contest. Those differences were for a long

26 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

time only known by the rumour of the violence of the emperor
towards the pope, and by the noble complaints of the Holy
Father, which only reached the public with great difficulty and
great confusion. Their origin and their causes might have been
better appreciated, for all that concerned the purely theological
part of those discussions, when Napoleon summoned at Paris an
ecclesiastical council, of which I will speak soon. But the
deliberations of that council, composed of very enlightened men,
had been kept secret.

By what sequence of events did the pope find himself
tormented and persecuted for nearly ten years, so odiously,
with such want of policy and in so many ways .'

Let us run over the facts and their dates, looking at them
from a distance. Several of these dates will explain the great
misfortunes of Pius VII., supported with such heroic courage,
that one hardly dares to note in the Holy Father, some slight
wrongs of improvidence.

Pius VI., his predecessor, removed from Rome by order of
the Directory, February lo, 1798, died at Valence, August 9,
1799. Pius VII. was elected March 14, 1800, at Venice, which
belonged then to the Emperor of Germany, according to one of
the stipulations of the treaty of Campo-Formio ; and, on July
13 of the same year, he made his entry into Rome which had
been re-conquered with the Roman States by the allies, while
Bonaparte was in Egypt.

I have already said somewhere that Bonaparte, on his return
from Egypt, had arrived suddenly in Paris, October 16,
1799, and that as a result of the coup d'etat of the i8th
Brumaire (November 9, 1799), he had been placed at the
head of the government as First Consul, December 13, 1799.
The conclave was opened at Venice, on the first of this same
month of December, and while Pius VII., elected in the month
of March following, was going from Venice to Rome, Bonaparte
had just marked his taking possession of power by two acts
which had the greatest influence over Italy. On June 2, 1800,
he entered Milan where he had re-established the Cisalpine
Republic, and twelve days later, on June 14, he gained the
famous battle of Marengo, which gave France so large a portion

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 27

of Italy, and reduced the States of the Church to what had been
fixed upon by the treaty of Tolentino.

Thus the pope, entering Rome after these two events, July 3,
i8cx), must have felt how important it was for him to conciliate
so powerful and so formidable a protector as Napoleon, and how
important also it was for the religion of which he was the head,
and which had experienced so many vicissitudes and persecu-
tions in France, to bring to an end the schism which for so long
a time obtained in that unhappy country.

Bonaparte also experienced this same need, and, on his
passage through Milan, he heard with the greatest interest the
first overtures which were made to him very secretly and very
skilfully on the part of the court of Rome. Is it not a
remarkable thing, that, raised at the head of the government
by his military exploits and by the philosophical and liberal
ideas which prevailed then, Bonaparte should have felt im-
mediately the necessity of being reconciled with the court
of Rome } It is perhaps in this circumstance that he has
shown the greatest proof of the force of his character, for he
braved then all the mockery of the army, and the opposition
even of the two consuls, his colleagues. He remained firmly
attached to the idea that, in order to sustain either the civil
constitution of the clergy, or theo-philanthropy, which were
equally discredited, he would have to play the part of per-
secutor of the Catholic religion, and to arm against her and
against her ministers the laws with severity, whereas in dis-
carding the religious innovations of the Revolution, it would be
easy for him to make our ancient religion a friend and even a
supporter in all the Catholic consciences of France.

He then resolved, and it was one of the strokes of his great
genius, to come to an understanding with the head of the
Church, who, alone, could reconcile, lead back, pronounce as
judge or as arbiter, and re-establish finally by his authority,
to which no other was comparable, unity of worship and of
doctrine.

To this authority was added, in the person of the pope,
the influence of a great and sincere piety, of an enlightened
mind, and of an attractive sweetness.

28 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

The Concordat could not appear under happier auspices ; it
was greatly desired, above all in the provinces. It was con-
verted into a law April 8, iSoi. It was composed of seventeen
articles drawn up with remarkable wisdom and foresight. All
was clear, without equivocation ; there was not a word which
could offend or displease. Transferred ecclesiastical property
could no longer be claimed back, and it was declared that the
acquirers of such estates must be fully reassured in that
respect. It was an immense point obtained from the con-
descension of a pope filled with piety.

But one point presented prodigious difficulties. To re-
establish religion in France there must be obtained the resig-
nation of all the old bishops, or do without them. They had
all offered and even sent them to Pius VI. in 1791, after the
civil constitution of the clergy. Pius VI. thought he ought to
refuse to accept them. Pope Pius VII. demanded them in
1 801, by his brief of August 24, Tarn multa, &c. ... as an
indispensable preliminary to all negotiation, declaring to them
nevertheless, with sweet, confiding, but firm expressions, that if
they refused, which he presumed they would not, he should
see himself with regret compelled to appoint new men to the
government of the bishoprics of the new circumscription.

Of the eighty-one bishops who were still alive and who had
not renounced the episcopacy, forty-five sent in their resigna-
tions, thirty-six refused to do so ; the greater number, I think,
less from theological conviction, although they were encouraged
in their refusal by the learned theologian Asseline,^ than from
attachment to the House of Bourbon, and hatred for the present
government. It has been pretended that the refusal of some of
them was rather dilatory than absolute, but all persevered in it,
and their resistance even seemed to increase from day to day •
for, after their canonical claims of 1803, signed by all the
bishops who had not resigned,^ there appeared in April, 1804,

1 Jean- Rene Asseline, bom in 1742, entered the Church and became wand vicar
of M. de Beaumont, Archbishop of Paris. In 1 790, he was named Bishop of
Boulogne, refused to swear allegiance to the civil constitution, and emigrated in 1 79 1.
He retired to Munster, whence he protested against the Concordat, in 1802. In 1807,
he complied with the request of Louis XVXII. and lived in intimacy with the royal
family until his death (1813). He has left numerous works on theology.

'^ It was in 1801 that the bishops, having refused to resign, assembled in London,

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 29

with a list of still stronger claims, a declaration on the rights of
the king} signed by the thirteen bishops residing in England.

And, finally, anticipating events, I will say here that in
1 8 14, Louis XVIII., ascending the throne, these bishops pre-
tended even with the pope, to make it a title to honour that
they had resisted him, and had, to this effect, written him a
haughty letter in which each of them had taken the title of
his old bishopric. The pope refused to receive it, and led them,
by his perseverance in refusing, to address him a letter of
apology, in which they abandoned their pretensions, and which
they signed only as late bishops. In order that there should not
remain the slightest doubt in this respect, the pope desired that
not one of them should be replaced in the see he had previously
occupied, not even the Archbishop of Reims,^ in spite of all
the propriety there would have been in making an exception
in his favour.

I revert to what took place in 1801 and the following years.
The pope saw the Concordat in full working order, without any
trouble resulting for France ; in spite of the diversity of

to protest E^ainst the Concordat, and sent to the pope a long memonai in which they
set forth the motives of their refusal. This memorial was published in London in
1801. It is signed by fourteen prelates : Arthur Dillon, Archbishop of Narbonne ;
Louis de Conzie, Bishop of Arras ; Joseph de Malide, Bishop of Montpellier ; Louis
de Grimaldi, Bishop-Comte of Noyon, peer of France ; Jean Lamarche, Bishop of
Leon ; Pierre de Belboeuf, Bishop of Avranches ; Sebastien Amelot, I'.ishop of
Vannes ; Henry de Bethisy, Bishop of Uzes ; Seignelai Colbert, Bishop of Rodez ;
Charles de La Laurencie, Bishop of Nantes ; Philippe d'Albignac, Bishop of Angou-
leme ; Alexandre de Chauvigny de Blot, Bishop of Lombez ; Emmanuel de
Grossoles de Flammarens, Bishop of Perigueux ; Etienne de Galois de la Tour,
Bishop (named) of Moulins.

^ On April 15, 1804, M. de Dillon, Archbishop of Narbonne, wrote to the pope
to protest anew against the Concordat. This letter was accompanied by a declaration
on the rights of the king, signed by the same bishops as above, with the exception
of the Bishop of Perigueux. This declaration conveyed that the inviolable fidelity
of the people to their sovereign is recommended by the Gospel ; that the prince is
minister of God ; that every rebel to his king is guilty towards God ; that the present
government of France where the legitimate prince has does not occupy the place due to
him, though it may alleviate the burden of the calamities under which anarchy is
causing the people to groan, does not satisfy either God or Ccesar. .... it constitutes
a power of fact and not a power of right ; it has only possession or rather usurpa-
tion ; but the legitimate prince continues to preserve all his rights, although he
is forced to suspend their application. In consequence, the undersigned to fulfil
their duty as bishops and as subjects, declare: i", That their very honoured lord
and legitimate king, Louis XV J II., preserves, in all their integrity, the rights
which he holds from God to the crown of France ; 2°, Thai nothing has been able to
deprive the French, his subjects, of the fidelity they owe to this prince, in virtue of the
law of God.

' M. de Talleyrand- Perigord, afterward Cardinal and Archbishop of Paris.

30 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

opinions, the opposition was trifling, seldom offered, and without
result.

It must, however, be said here that Pius VII. had displayed
in this circumstance an authority which transcended the ordinary
rules, and which would not have been recognized in any other
time, if a pope had tried to exercise it — that of deposing bishops
without trial, as also that of suppressing more than half the
bishoprics of France without formality. At another epoch,
nothing would have appeared in France more opposed to the
liberties of the Galilean Church. But the case was here out of
all comparison with ordinary times ; it was impossible and
almost ridiculous to invoke and to wish to apply here the
exercise of those liberties. The pope had vainly exhausted
the most powerful entreaties with this minority, composed of
thirty-six bishops, and then, supporting himself on the majority
of the French Episcopacy, he employed the only means possible
of destroying the schism which it was so urgent to have cease.
What other means, in effect, could the pope have employed ?
Let any one search, he cannot even imagine one. Abbe
Fleury, ^ an ardent Gallican though he was, and certainly very
little disposed to extend the authority of the pope, said none
the less in his discourse on the liberties of the Gallicaii Church,
that, " the authority of the pope is sovereign, and rises above
all," when it is a question of maintaining the rules or causing
the canons to be observed. Bossuet makes use of similar
language : " It must be said, consequently and with much
reason (adds M. Emery, ^ in one of his works), that the
authority of the pope is sovereign, and takes precedence of all,
even of the canons, when there is a question as to the preser-

^ Abbe Claude Fleury, bom in 1640, was at first preceptor of the sons of the
Prince de Conde, then under-govemor of the Dukes of Burgundy, Anjou and
Berry. In 1 7 1 6 he came again to the court as confessor of Louis XV. He resigned
this appointment soon after, and died in 1723. Abbe Fleury has left a large
number of works on ecclesiastical history and religious controversies.

2 Jacques- Andre Emery, born in 1732, received orders, in 1756, was Professor of
Theology at Orleans, was named in 1776 Grand Vicar of the Diocese of Angers,
Superior of the Seminary of that city, and shortly after Superior-General of the
Order of Saint Sulpice. Under the Terror, he was imprisoned for eighteen months.
After the 9th Thermidor, he was charged with the functions of Grand Vicar of the
Diocese of Paris. Under the Consulate, he reorganized his congregation. He took
part in the ecclesiastical commissions assembled by the emperor, and died in
1811.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS.

31.

vation of the Church, since it is only for the maintenance of these
great interests that these rules and these canons have been
made." Father Thomassin, in his great and celebrated work on
the discipline of the Church, says also: "Nothing is more
consonant with the canons than to violate these canons, when
from this violation, there must result a much greater good than
from even their observance."

Pius VII. then, in these difficult circumstances, showed him-
self to be possessed both of a strong will and of a profound
knowledge of true principles. In acting as he did, he destroyed
the schism without irritating, without humiliating the constitu-
tional bishops, and yet without yielding to them any point, and
order was restored everywhere.

There were, nevertheless, some people whose consciences
felt uneasy in the dioceses where the former incumbents had
not given their resignation. Some among them, while reserv-
ing their jurisdiction, had consented nevertheless, to the exercise
of the powers of the bishop who replaced them, and supplied
by that the insufficiency of his title. But the most active in
their resistance, those who, from political opinions had shown
themselves most inimical to the principle of the Revolution, and
who were imperturbably ruled by this sentiment, were careful
not to do it. This persistent opposition did not produce, how-
ever, either the effect, nor the results that they anticipated, and
that might have been feared. Those of the parishioners of
their dioceses whose consciences were more particularly timorous,
though uneasy perhaps for a while, were not slow in compre-
hending that their former bishop, not having wished either to
come into their midst, or to give in his resignation at the
demand of the pope, they were assuredly protected from all
reproach in according under such circumstances their confidence
to the new bishop sent to them by the Holy Father.

The bishops remaining in London saw surely with grief that
men imbued with their doctrines, such as Abb6 Blanchard ^ and

1 Abbe Pierre Louis Blanchard, bom in 1762, was Professor of Philosophy in
1789. Having refused the oath, he emigrated to England, where he remained until
1814. From his retreat, he published a great number of statements and of libels in
which he speaks with extreme violence of those who hurt the interests of religion. He
attacks the Concordat, and does not spare even the pope, principally on the occasion

32 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Abbe Gaschet, pushing to extremes the consequences (quite
well deduced however) of these doctrines, published in England,
and introduced as much as they could into France, a host of
libels against the pope, in which, in a fanatical style which
seemed copied from Luther's, they declared him heretical,
schismatic, fallen from papacy, even from priesthood ; they
said it was a blasphemy to pronounce his name at the canon
of mass, that he was as much a stranger to the Church as if
he was a Jew or a Pagan. They spoke of his outrages, of his
scandals, &c. ... I do not alter a syllable. Let us believe for
the honour of those bishops who constituted what was then
called la petite Eglise that, however contrary they were, they did
not approve of these mad fits, although they appeared to have
been instigated by them. They were, however, solemnly con-
demned by twenty-nine Catholic bishops of Ireland, and by the
apostolic vicars who resided in London. What must be added
is, that in France, where they spread these libels, universal
scorn treated them as they deserved. I believe that the police
denounced them or wished to denounce them one day to the
tribunals, but even that could not remove them from obscurity.

Bonaparte had caused to be decreed, under form of law, at
the same time as the Concordat, organic articles, concerning as
much the Catholic as the Protestant clergy. Several of these
articles displeased the pope, in as much as they appeared to put
the Church of France in too great a dependence on the govern-
ment, even in minor details. He complained with moderation,
and demanded modification ; he obtained gradually, and even
without much difficulty, essential alterations. Some of these
articles were besides transitory ; their effects were to cease with
the circumstances which had called them forth. There were others
which proceeded naturally from old Gallican liberties ; modifica-
tions could not be introduced in those, and the pope could not
hope it. In order to draw up the Concordat, they had been
obliged to renounce those liberties momentarily ; the Concordat
once made, it was urgent to resume our privileges. All that
was really necessary had been granted, if not at once, at least

of the consecration of the emperor. His numerous writings have been published in
London.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 33

in time. The pope was perfectly seconded in his desires by
the Bishop of Nantes, as will be seen farther on, and by his
legate. Cardinal Caprara. The latter, knowing the passionate
temper of the First Consul, put great wisdom and extreme cir-
cumspection in all his conduct, knowing how to wait, fearing to
irritate, and deeming himself too happy for what had been
obtained, to seek to compromise it.

Cardinal Caprara, appointed legate a latere to Bonaparte,
had been invested with the most extensive powers by the bull
Dextera. ... of the month of August, 1801, and by the bull
Qiioniam. ... of November 29, of the same year, to enable
him to carry out the Concordat, to institute the new bishops.
. . and to solve all the difficulties which might arise. But,
although the Concordat had been concluded and signed at Paris,
July IS, 1 80 1, and ratified at Rome by Pius VII. in the month
of August following, it had not been converted into a law (on
account of the absence of the legislative body) until April 8,
1802 ; and it was not until that day that the legate could
exercise his functions and institute the new bishops, after having
taken oath the same day (April 8) at the hands of the First
Consul. There is, in his oath, but only to trained eyes, a slight
difference between that which had been settled by the decree
of the consuls and the terms which he used. The decree bore
these few words, "He shall, according to the usual formula,
take the oath and promise to conform to the laws of the State,
and to the liberties of the Gallican Church." But the cardinal
took the oath and promised (in Latin) " to observe the constitu-
tions, laws, statutes and usages of the French Republic," and at
the same time, " not to derogate in any way from the authority
and jurisdiction of the government of the Republic, nor from
the rights, liberties and privileges of the Gallican Church."
The whole was preceded by a compliment to the First Consul,
such as was never paid, perhaps, to any sovereign. It can be
seen, on close examination, that instead of promising to conform
to the liberties of the Gallican Church (which implies a sort of
adherence to or at least of recognition of these liberties), he
promised only not to derogate from them, which is purely
negative. The difference, at any rate, is very small or even
VOL. II. I>

THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

insignificant in its result, and very likely passed unnoticed.
Besides, he promised, in the other part of the oath, more than
had been demanded of him, for they wished him to swear to
conform to the laws of the state, and he took the positive
oath to observe the Constitution, the laws, the statutes and the
usages of the Republic, which expresses more.

As to the liberties of the Galilean Church, which rouse the
fears of the court of Rome, to engage by oath not to derogate
from them is assuredly all that could be expected of a legate,
above all if we consider that no pope has ever recognized
them. Innocent XI.^ (Odescalchi) disturbed for eight years
the Church of France on account of these same liberties con*
secrated in the Assembly of the Clergy of 1682, and repeatedly
refused to grant bulls to the ecclesiastics of the second order,
members of that assembly (where, however, they had no vote).
His successor, Alexander VIII.^ (Ottoboni) was more opinionate
still in his refusals, since two days before his death, he published a
bull against the four articles of 1682, which, for that matter, had
no effect, because he was dying. Innocent XII.^ (Pignatelli), good
man as he was, could not make up his mind to grant bulls to
the bishops appointed between 1682 and 1693, until they had
each written him a letter of apology and of regret for what had
taken place in that assembly. This letter was truly humiliating,
and that which made it more so was that Louis XIV. added one
from his own hand, in which he bound himself to give no sequel
to his edict of March 22, 1682. The letter of the king must
have seemed as a retractation, which however he withdrew before
his death, since finally the edict was not revoked, and after him
it continued to be executed.

It is almost useless to recall here that Bonaparte, proclaimed
emperor by the senate, May 20, 1804, put a great price, and
that is easily conceived, upon being consecrated by the pope. It
is a wondrous feature of his destiny that he was able to obtain
it, and at the time, I thought myself very happy in having con-

^ Innocent XI. (Benedict Odescalchi), bom at Como in 1611, Pope in 1671, died
in 1689.

' Alexander VIII., bom at Venice in 1610, pope in 1689. He quashed the
articles of the declaration of 1682 by the bull Inter muUiplkes, and died in 1691.

' Innocent XII. (Antoni Pignatelli), bora in Naples in 1615, pope from
1691 to 1700.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 35

tributed to it, because I thought that thereby the ties of France
with the court of Rome would become closer. Pius VII.
having already recognized the consular government, since it was
with that government he had treated for the Concordat, could
not be stayed by the consideration of rights which might some
day be brought forth by the House of Bourbon, if the new
government, being itself overthrown, the nation should recall
the former. He had then nothing to object against the title of
emperor that Bonaparte had given himself, or that had been
awarded him in France, with more solemnity, although perhaps
with less sincerity, than that of First Consul. The pope had
only to deliberate on a single point more wisely whether, in
the sole interest of religion, to which the new emperor might do,
by his immense power, so much good or so much harm, he
ought to consent to come to consecrate him, as Saint Boniface,
the legate of Pope Stephen III., had come to consecrate Pepin,
during the life of the legitimate king, Childeric III. ; as Leo III.
crowned Charlemagne emperor at Rome in 800, and as another
pope, Stephen V., came afterwards to consecrate Louis le
Debonnaire at Reims, after the death of Charlemagne.

The pope decided to come to perform this consecration at
Paris, and this memorable ceremony took place December 2,
1804. Pius VII. was not influenced in this circumstance by
temporal views, like Pope Stephen III., who had implored the
assistance of Pepin against the Lombards, but very evidently
and solely by purely religious motives, since he abstained from
allowing even a glimpse to be seen of his desire, a very natural
one, to recover his three legations of Bologna, Ferrara, and
Ravenna, which the emperor besides was careful not to offer
to return him, nor even to give him the hope of it. All the
demands of the pope, without any exception, were in the
interest of religion. None regarded himself personally, and
he refused the presents that were offered him for his family.

He left Paris April 4, 1805, leaving everywhere on his
passage the profound impression of his virtues, and of his benev-
olence. Napoleon had left Paris some days before him ; he was
bent on something else than on showing his gratitude to the
Holy Father. On the i6th of May, the pope arrived in Rome,

D 2

36 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

and on the 26th of May the emperor had himself crowned at
Milan as King of Italy. A short time after his troops occu-
pied Ancona, on the Roman territory.^ The pope complained ;
Napoleon did not reply ; but after the battle of Austerlitz on
Dec. 2, 1805, and the peace of Presburg of the 26th, he wrote
to the pope, Jan. 6, 1806, that he had wished to appropriate
Ancona, but to occupy it as protector of the Holy See, and in
order that that city should not be defiled by the Mussulmans.

Three months after, March 30, 1806, iSTapoleon places his
brother Joseph on the throne of Naples, and asks the pope to
recognize him. He asks him at the same time to make with him
an offensive and defensive league ; to embrace the continental
system — to close consequently his ports to the English, that is
to say, to declare war against them. Such propositions, at a
time above all when the emperor was trampling the Concordat
under foot that he had concluded with the pope in 1803 for
Italy ; when he was despoiling the bishoprics and the mon-
asteries of their wealth, suppressing both at his will ; when he
was plaguing the bishops and the cur6s with new oaths,

&c such propositions could not be accepted, and they

were not. They gave rise to that correspondence with the
French authorities in which there is displayed so much force,
reason, and propriety on the side of the court of Rome.

Such a refusal and so much reason could not fail to
irritate the emperor. On February 2, 1808, he had Rome oc-
cupied by his troops under the command of General Miollis.^
They took possession of the Chateau Saint- Ange. The general
tried to oblige the pope to subscribe to all the demands that
were made to him, under the menace of losing his states ; he

' Ancona had at that time great importance. Some Russian troops were con-
centrated at Corfu, whence they were awaiting an occasion to pass into Italy and join
the English. Ancona was then exposed to a coup de main, so much the more that
its garrison was almost a. cypher, and its fortifications falling in ruins. Napoleon
begged the pontifical government to put the city into a state of defence. His request
was unheeded. Soon General Gouvion Saint-Cyr, wlio was at that moment crossing
the States of the Church to go to the kingdom of Naples, received the order to take
possession of the city. He entered it by surprise and established himself there
November 6, 1 805.

2 Francois, Comte MioUis, bom in 1759, was captain of infantry in 1789. He
served in the armies of the Republic, became general in 1794, and distinguished
himself in the campaign of Italy. He v/as for a long time Governor of Mantua. In
1S07, he was appointed Governor of Rome and of the States of the Church. He
retired in 1815, and died in 1828.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 37

multiplied vexations, seized the mail and the press ; had twenty
cardinals carried off, among whom were several ministers, &c.
.... The pope protested in vain against such violence.
Napoleon paid no attention. On the 2nd of April following,
he united the legations of Urbino, Ancona, Macerata and
Camerino with the kingdom of Italy to make three departments
of them. He confiscated the wealth of the cardinals who did not
return to the place of their birth. He disarmed nearly all the
guards of the Holy Father — the nobles of this guard were im-
prisoned. Finally, Miollis had Cardinal Gabrielle,^ pro- Secretary
of State, carried off, and put seals upon his papers.

On May 17, 1809, a decree was issued by Napoleon, dated
from Vienna, proclaiming the union (in his quality of successor
to Charlemagne) of the States of the pope with the French
Empire, ordaining that the city of Rome should be a free and
imperial city; that the pope should continue to have his seat
there, and that he should enjoy a revenue of two millions of
francs. On June 10, he had this decree promulgated at Rome.
On this same June 10, the pope protested against all these
spoliations, refused all pensions, and recapitulating all the out-
rages of which he had cause to complain, issued the famous
and imprudent bull of excommunication against the authors,
favourers, and executors of the acts of violence against him and
the Holy See, but without naming any one.

Napoleon was incensed at it, and on the first impulse he
wrote to the bishops of France a letter in which he spoke in
almost revolutionary terms " of him who wished," said he, " to
make dependent upon a perishable temporal power the eternal
interest of consciences, and that of all spiritual affairs."

On the 6th of July, 1809, Pius VH;, taken from Rome, after
he had been asked if he would renounce the temporal sovereignty
of Rome and of the States of the Church, was conducted by
General Radet^ as far as Savone, where he arrived alone,

^ Jtdes Gabrielle, issue of an old Roman family, bom in 1748, was Bishop of
Sinigaglia, then cardinal in 1801. On March, 27, 1808, he became pro-Secretary of
State. He protested energetically against all the unlawful measures against the
rights of the pope, ordered by the emperor, and was arrested in June of the same
year. He was sent to France, where he was confined and in 1813, repaired to
Fontainebleau to stay with the pope. He died in 1822.

' Etienne, Baron Radet, born in 1762, had been non-commissioned officer under

38 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

August lO, the cardinals having all been previously transported
to Paris. And to complete the spoliation of the pope, Napoleon
issued on the 17th of February, 18 10, a senatus-consultum which
bestowed upon the eldest son of the emperor the title of King
of Rome, and even ordained that the emperor should be conse-
crated a second time at Rome, in the first ten years of his
reign.

It was while oppressed, captive and deprived of all council,
that the pope refused the bulls to all the bishops named by the
emperor, and then it was that all the discussions relative to the
proper measures to put an end to the viduity of the churches
were commenced.

Ecclesiastical Commission.

Formed in 1 809.

This council was composed of Cardinal Fesch, Cardinal
Maury ,^ the Archbishop of Tours,^ the Bishop of Nantes,^ the

the old rigiine. In 1 792, he was sub-lieutenant in the National Guard at Varennes.
Accused of having favoured the flight of Louis XVI., he viras acquitted by the Revo-
lutionary Tribunal. He became brigadier-general in I799i and commander-in-chief
of the gendarmerie. It was in this capacity that he received the order, July 6, 1809,
to arrest the pope. In 1813, he was appointed Grand Provost of the Grand Army
and general of division. Sentenced in 1816 to nine years' imprisonment, he was
pardoned in 181 8, and died in 1825.

^ Jean Maury, bom in 1 746, at Valreas ( Vaucluse), was the son of a shoemaker.
He took orders in 1 771, and soon made himself famous by his eloquence ; he
entered the Academy in 1784. Deputy for the clergy of Peronne to the States-
General, he became the leader of the Conservative side. He emigrated in 1 79 1, went
to Rome, was named archbishop in fartihus, cardinal and Bishop of Montetiascone.
Shortly after, Louis XVIII. accredited him as ambassador to the Holy See. He
rallied, however, to the side of the emperor in 1807, and became senator and
chaplain to Prince Jerome. In 1810, he was called to the archiepiscopal see of
Paris, which caused' his condemnation by the pope, and later his disgrace vrith
Louis XVIII. In 1815, he had to leave his archbishopric and reach Italy. He was
momentarily confined at the Chateau Saint- Ange, but released soon after. He re-
entered the good graces of Pius VII., and died in 1817.

^ Louis, Comte de Barral, bom in 1746, had been general agent of the clergy in
1785, then coadjutor of the Bishop of Troyes and bishop in partibus. He refused
the oath and emigrated. In 1801, he sent his resignation to the pope, and was soon
after named Bishop of Meaux, and, later, Archbishop of Tours. In 1S05, he accepted
the office of chaplain to the empress, and later the dignity of senator. Mgr. de Barral
pronounced, in 1814, the funeral oration of the Empress Josephine. It was he also,
who, on June I, 1815, officiated pontifically on the Champs-de- Mars. On the
return of Louis XVIII. he was forced to resign. He died in 1818.

' M. Duvoisin.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 39

Bishop of Evreux.i the Bishop of Treves,^ the Bishop of Verceil.s
Abb6 Emery, superior of Saint-Sulpice, and Father Fontana *
General of the Barnabites. The government proposed to it three
series of questions. The first on the interests of Christianity in
general. The second on the interests of France especially. The
third on the interests of the Churches of Germany, Italy, and
the bull of excommunication.

Each of these series is divided into several questions. I am
going to give them all with the answers, which I have abridged
without altering, taking care to underline the expressions of
the commission as well as the citations they invoke.

In the preamble heading, the answers made by the commis-
sion to the questions put by the government, the following
passage maybe noticed : " We do not separate from the homage we
render to your Majesty, the tribute of interest, zeal and love com-
manded by the actual situation of the Sovereign Pontiff. . . . All
the spiritual good we can expect as the result of our deliberations is
tlien solely in the hands of your Majesty . . . . and we dare to
hope that you will enjoy soon this glory, if you deign to grant our
wishes in accelerating so desirable a good harmony between your
Majesty and the Sovereign Pontiff, by restoring entire freedom
to the pope, surrounded by his natural counsellors, without whom he
can neither com-municate with the Churches confided to his solici-
tude, nor solve any question of importance nor provide for the needs
^f Catholicism.!'

FIRST SERIES.

Question I. — Is the government of the Church arbitrary ?
Answer. — No ; it belongs, it is true, especially to the suc-
cessor of Saint Peter, who is the head of it, having the supre-

^ M. Bourlier. ^ M. Mannay.

' Jean-Baptiste Canaveri, bom in 1753, entered the order of the Oratorians in
1771, became Bishop of Bielle in 1797, then of Verceil in 1808. He was soon after
appoined first chaplain of Madame Lstitia Bonaparte. He died in 1818.

* Fran9ois- Louis Fontana, bom in 1750, entered the congregation of the Bama-
tites in 1767, and was elected superior of his order in the province of Milan, In
1804 he accompanied the pope to Paris, and became afterwards procurator-general of
his order, Counsellor of Rites, and finally general of his congregation. After the
removal of the pope, he was confined at Arcis-sur-Aube, was a member of the
Ecclesiastical Commission of 1809, but only attended its first sittings. He was
arrested and imprisoned in the following year. He only recovered his liberty in 1814,
returned to Rome, was named cardinal in 1819, and died in 1822.

40 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

macy of honour and jurisdiction in all the Church ; but it
belongs also to the bishops, successors to the apostles ; and,
however eminent may be the authority of the apostolic chair
it is regulated in its exercise by the canons, that is to say by tlie
laws common to the whole Church. Pope St. Martin wrote to a
bishop ; " We are the defenders and the depositaries and not the
transgressors of the holy canons!^ " It is in observing them and
causing them to be observed by others" said Bossuet, " that the
Church of Rome raised itself eminently above the ot/iers."

The commission adds that the usages in the possession of
particular Churches, and which take their source in the ancient
discipline, make the law for these churches. They constitute in some
way their common law and m.ust be respected. It quotes Pope
Saint Gregory who says expressly, in speaking of the Church of
Africa, " The usages that do not injure the Catholic faith ought to
remain intact"

Question 2. — Can the pope from motives of temporal welfare
refuse his intervention in spiritual affairs ?

Answer. — The supremacy, by which the pope enjoys divine
right, being all for the spiritual advantage of the Church, we
believe we here pay him homage in replying that when temporal
affairs have no necessary connection with spiritual ones, when
they do not prevent the head of the Church fulfilling freely the
functions of apostolic nuncio, the pope cannot, from the sole
motive of temporal affairs, refuse his intervention in spiritual
affairs.

Question 3. — It is beyond doubt that since a certain time the
court of Rome is confined to a small number of families, that the
affairs of the Church are there examined and treated by a small
number of prelates and theologians, taken from the small

localities in the neighbourhood In this state of things,

would it be proper to convene a council ?

Answer. — If it is a question of a general council, it could
not be held without the head of the Church, otherwise it would

not represent the Universal Church If it is of a national

council, its authority would be insufficient to rule upon any
matter which would interest all Catholicism.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HJS BROTHERS. 41

Question 4. — Should not the Consistory or Privy Council of
the pope be composed of prelates of all nations in order to
enlighten his Holiness ?

Answer. — The Council of Basel had decided (with some
limiting clauses) that the cardinals should be taken from all the
Catholic states. The orators of the King of France at the
Council of Trent renewed the propositions that the Council of
Basel had adopted, and this council limited itself to deciding
that the pope should take cardinals from all nations as much as
could be conveniently done, and according as he should find thejn
worthy of that dignity.

The council said it could only formulate wishes for the
execution of the measure which meets the desire of his Majesty.

Question 5. — Supposing that it should be recognized that
there is no necessity for changes in the present organization of
the Church, does not the emperor continue in his person the
rights which were those of the Kings of France, the Dukes of
Brabant, and other sovereigns of the Low Countries, the Kings
of Sardinia, the Dukes of Tuscany, etc. — whether for the nom-
ination of cardinals or for all other prerogatives t

Answer. — The commission thinks that the emperor is war-
ranted in claiming the prerogatives of the sovereignties comprised
in the empire.

SECOND SERIES.
Questions which concern France especially.

Question i. — Have his Majesty or his ministers infringed
the Concordat ?

Answer. — The commission thinks the pope has no cau&e to
complain of any essential infringement of the Concordat. As to the
organic articles added to the Concordat, the commission agrees that
the pope, during his sojourn in Paris, laid before the emperor
representations as to a certain number of these articles that he
judged contrary to the free exercise of tJie Catholic religion. But
several of the articles of which his Holiness complained, are only
applications or consequences of maxims and usages received in the

42 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND,

Gallican Church, from which neither the emperor nor the clergy
of France can depart.

Some others, in truth, it adds, comprise dispositions which
would be very prejudicial to the Church if they were strictly
enforced. There is every reason to believe that they were added to
the Concordat as regulations dictated by circumstances, as considera-
tions necessary for smoothing the way for the establishrjient of the
Catholic religion ; and we expect Jrom the justice and piety of
his Majesty, that he will deign to revoke or modify them in such
a manner as to dissipate the annoyance to which they have given
rise.

The commission indicates three of them : The first on the
bulls, briefs, .... which were not to be received nor put into
execution without the authorization of the government. It
desires that the penitentiary' s briefs which were formally excepted
by the parlements be excepted. The twenty-sixth on the
fixation at three hundred francs of the title or revenue exacted
from ecclesiastics in order to be ordained by the bishop, while
it was only one hundred and fifty francs before the Revolution,
when the candidates, belonging for the greater part to the higher
classes, were very much "richer. The thirty-sixth on the vicars-
general who were, according to this article, to continue their
functions, even after the death of the bishop ; while it is a
principle that the powers of the grand vicar expire with him
who has given them, that the chapter ipso facto invested with
episcopal jurisdiction, and that it is this chapter which appoints
the vicars-general who govern during the vacancy in the see.

It is but right to observe that these three demands were
granted by decree, February 28, 18 10.

Question 2. — Is the state of the clergy in France ameliorated
on the whole or made worse since the Concordat has been in
force .''

The answer is here most affirmative, most detailed, richest in
facts. Besides the liberty of the Catholic religion, which is in
itself alone the greatest of the benefits due to the Concordat,
what new benefits did not accrue from it since that time ? The
endowment of chapters ; thirty thousand supplementary chapels

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE—HIS BROTHERS. 43

pensioned ; four hundred scholarships and three hundred half-
scholarships for the training-schools of the clergy ; exemption
from conscription for students presented by the bishop ; invitation
to the general councils of departments to supply the endowments
of bishops and chapters, and to provide for the needs of
religion ; re-establishment of religious congregations devoted to

gratuitous teaching, to the relief of the poor, sick, &c All

these facts are evident.

Question 3. — If the French government has not violated the
Concordat, can the pope arbitrarily refuse the institution to
appointed archbishops and bishops, and destroy religion in
France as he has destroyed it in Germany, where, for the last
ten years, no bishop has been appointed ?

Answer. — The Concordat is a synallagmatic contract between
the Head of the State and the Head of the Church, by which each of
them is under obligation to the other. IT IS ALSO a public treaty
by which each of the contracting parties acquires rights and takes
obligations upon himself. The right reserved by the pope cannot be
exercised arbitrarily. By the Compact between King Francis I. and
Leo X.^ (1515)1 the pope was held to grant bulls of institution to
subjects named by the sovereign, or to allege canonical motives for
his refusal. Pius VIL is equally bound towards the emperor and
France by the Compact that he has solemnly ratified.

The Holy Father having written from Savone, August 28,
1809, ^ letter to Cardinal Caprara, to set forth the motives of
his refusal, the commission does not think it is departing from the
prof ound respect with which it is penetrated for the person and the
supreme dignity of the Head of the Church, in putting under the
eyes of the emperor the reflections that it would dare to present to
his Holiness himself, if it were admitted to the honour of
conferring with him.

The pope gave three motives for refusal in his letter, i.

The religious innovations introduced into France since the

1 This Compact, the preliminaries of which were agreed upon December 10, 1515,
at an interview between the two sovereigns, was only signed August 18, 15 16. It
provided, the abolition of the ' ' Pragmatic sanction, " gave up to the pope the income
derived from sees left vacant a year or more, and acknowledged the supremacy of the
pope over the councils. As compensation, it gave the king the right of nomination
to all the prelacies of France.

44 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Concordat, and yet he did not enumerate one which was an
essential outrage upon this Compact. The known innovations
had been in France benefits for religion. The government had
met the remonstrances relative to the organic articles, and
besides, this complaint, already an old one concerning France,
had not been followed, hitherto, by a refusal of bulls on the
part of the pope. 2. The second motive was founded on the
events and political measures which it did not belong to him
to judge. The principal event, said the council, is the decree of
1809, bearing upon the union of the Roman States to the French
Empire. Is this motive canonical ? Is it founded on the prin-
ciples and on the spirit of religion f The commission replies :
Religion teaches us not to confound the spiritual order and the
temporal order ; the jurisdiction that the pope exercises essen-
tially by divine right is that which Saint Peter received frotn
Christ, the only one he has been able to transmit to his successors ;
and that is purely spiritual. The temporal sovereignty is for
the popes only an accessory foreign to their authority. The first
will last as long as the Church, as long as the world ; and the
other, a human institution, not being comprised in the Divine
promises that have been made to the Church, can be taken away,
as it has been given, by men and events. In all suppositions
in this respect, and whatever m.ay be the political position of the
pope, his authority in the universal Church and his relations with
individual churches ought always to he the same, and as he has only
received his powers for the advantage of the faithful and for the
government of the Church, the commission is persuaded that tlie
Holy Father woidd put an end to his refusals, if he were convinced,
like those who see things closely, that this refusal can only be very
prejudicial to the Church.

According to the commission, the invasion of Rome cannot
then be a motive for the refusal of the canonical institution of the
bishops nominated. This invasion is not a violation of the Con-
cordat. The Concordat stipulated nothing, guaranteed nothing
temporal ; and so long as the jurisdiction of the pope over the Church
of France is recognized, the ties which attach this Church to the
chair of St. Peter are not relaxed, and the Concordat subsists in
its integrity.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 45

The pope recognizes this distinction in his letter, but he could
not, said he, sacrifice the defence of the patrimony of tlie Church.
That is not contested ; he might reclaim it with all the means at his
disposal. But how could tJie refusal of the bulls be one of those
■means f If the em-peror exacted and obtained from the nominated
bishops some declaration cofitrary to the authority of tJu Holy
Father, or relative to the invasion of tlie Roman States, the pope
would be in the right in .refusing them the canonical institution ;
but there is nothing like it in the present circumstances. How then
could he wish or could he believe he had, the power to punish them,
for an event which could not be imputed to them f When Rome
was stormed by the troops of Charles V., did Clement VH.,
to avenge himself on this prince, abandon all the churches to
anarchy f 3. The third motive of refusal in the letter from the
Holy Father is taken from the actual situation. God knows,
says the pope, if we desire ardently to give to the vacant
churches of France their pastors, and if we desire to find an
expedient for doing it in a proper manner ; but ought we to
act in so important a juncture without consulting our natural
counsellors ? Then, how could we consult them, when, sepa-
rated from them by violence, we have been deprived of all free
eommunication with them, and besides, from all the necessary
means for the expedition of such affairs, not even having, up to
the present, obtained permission to have near us one of our
secretaries ?

The objection was a strong one, and the commission saw
itself compelled to make the following reply : To these last com-
plaints, we have no other reply to m-ake than to place thetn
ourselves under tfte eyes of his Majesty, who will feel all the force
and all the justice of them.

This phrase was not perhaps lacking in courage, for it was
to justify the refusal of the pope and to show clearly to the
emperor his injustice and his inconsistence.

Question 4. — The French government not having broken
the Concordat, if, on the other hand, the pope refuses to
execute it, the intention of his Majesty is to regard the Con-
cordat as abrogated ; but, in this case, what would it be proper
to do for the good of religion .'

46 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Answer. — If the pope persisted in the refusal to execute the
Concordat, it is certain, strictly speaking, that the emperor would
no longer be held to observe it, and that he could regard it as
abrogated. These are the first words of the reply ; they appear
to decide everything, but, nevertheless, this was not the case,
and the commission soon adds : But this compact is not a purely

personal transaction It is a treaty which forms a part of

our public right. . . . and it is important to demand its execution,
even in the supposition that the Holy Father should persist in
refusing it as far as he is concerned.

This reasoning is subtle and even singular ; for the commis-
sion seems to put forward with assurance a principle, only to
recoil the more quickly before the consequence ; it seems even to
have endeavoured to give rise again to the difficulty, at the
moment when it appeared quite clearly solved.

The commission says afterwards that the Concordat should
be considered not as abrogated, but as suspended, and that it
would be necessary to protest always against the refusal of the
pope, and to appeal either to the pope himself, better informed,
or to his successor.

But whether tlu Concordat be regarded as abrogated, or remain
suspended, adds the commission, what is it proper to do for the
good of religion ? (These are the last words of the question.)
Here the commission establishes clearly the principles and does
not spare any argument. All the powers of the ministers of
the Church being of a spiritual order, it is for the Church alone
to confer them,. The bishops have powers of order and powers of
jurisdiction. In the three first centuries of persecutions, the
Church was obliged alone to invest its pastors with these
powers, and she did not lose this right when kings became her
children. The Church has never recognized any bishops but those
she has instituted ; but the manner of proceeding to the election,
and then of conferring the institution, have not always been the
same. In tfie first centuries, tlie simple nomination, election, or
presentation belonged to the co-provincial bishops to the clergy and
to the people of the church that was to be supplied ; and this election
was confirmed by the archbishop who consecrated the bishop ; or, if
it was the archbishop himself wlw was to be confirmed, by the

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 47

council of the province that conferred the institution or the
mission, for the particular church to which he had just been
elected. Afterwards the emperors and other Christian princes had
a great share in the nomination, that is to say, the election, and
insensibly the people and the clergy of the country ceased to be
called upon. The election passed then to the chapter of the
metropolitan church, but always with the requirement of the consent
of the prince {^representing the people) and of the confirmation or
archiepiscopal institution or of that of the council of the province.
The ecclesiastical commission forgot to add that, up to the
thirteenth century, the popes had had no share either in the
election or the institution. Since, by reservations and other
principles inserted in the fausses dicritales} they assumed
sometimes both the election and the confirmation. It was this
state of things, so foreign to the ancient discipline, since there
were no traces of it in the first twelve centuries of the Church,
that the Council of Basel as well as the Pragmatic Sanction
wished to remedy. After the Council of Basel and the
Pragmatic Sanction published at Bourges in 1438^ conformably
to the decrees of that council, it was decided that the election
by the people and by the chapter should be confirmed by the
archbishop or by the provincial council. In 1516, this Prag-
matic Sanction was replaced by the compact between Francois I.
and Leo X., in virtue of which the right of election passed
entirely to the king in the place of the people or of the
chapter, and the confirmation or .institution to the pope,
instead of to the archbishops and provincial councils.

The ecclesiastical commission says, with reference to these
modifications : these two modifications to the right of election have
been regarded as made with the expressed or tacit consent of the
Church. We might even say this approbation {of the Church)
would still be indispensable, even if it were proposed to return to
one of the methods adopted in the preceding centuries ; for a law

1 The name of faussis dkritales is applied to a collection of canonical rights
of the sixth century, attributed to the monk Denys le Petit, which tended to con-
siderably increase the power of the popes.

' The Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges is the name given to the ordinance that
King Charles VII. issued, in 1438, on the affairs of the Church of France. This
article said in substance that God had given neither to St. Peter nor to his successors.
any direct power over temporal matters.

48 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

once abrogated is no longer a law, and it can only resume that
character by an act of the authority that abrogated it. This is one
of the capital vices of the civil constitution of the clergy, adopted by
the Constituent Assembly . . . for, beyond the fact that the elections
decreed by this Constitution resembled in no manner those of the
first centuries, the Constituent Assembly which had only political
powers was essentially incompetent to re-establish without tJte con-
currence and consent of the Church these rules of discipline tJtat the
Church had abolished.

Thus, in the supposition that by persevering in the refusal
of the bulls the Concordat should be regarded as suspended or as
abrogated, there would be no authority for reviving the Pragmatic
Sanction, unless the ecclesiastical authority intervened for its re-
vival. Except in that case, it would become the source of troubles
similar to those excited throughout all France by the civil constitu-
tion of the clergy in 1791.

What is it proper, then, to do for the good of religion ? For
this question recurs constantly.

The commission has not the necessary authority to indicate
measures suitable to replace the intervention of the pope in the con-
firmation of the bishops. (Is this answer really accurate ? Would
the suggesting of these measures presuppose an authority ? )

The com^nission thinks that the emperor can do nothi7ig wiser
and more conformable to the rules than to convoke a national council
which shall examine the question proposed and suggest tJu proper
means for preventing the inconvenience of the refusal of the bulls.
In 1688, on the occasion of a like refusal of bulls by Pope Innoceiit
XI. to the bishops, as a sequel to the assembly of the clergy in
1682, the Parlement of Paris, in the opinion of tlie attorney-
general Du Harley, i-endered a decree to the effect titat the king
should be prayed to summon the provincial councils or even a
national council.

The emperor, in a note which he dictated to the Bishop of
Nantes, M. Duvoisin, found that this answer was not sufficiently
clear upon the question. He had thought, he said in this note,
that, the Concordat failing, France was ipso facto in the situation
which existed before. But the commission had caused him to
alter his opinion, and he too esteemed now that, the Concordat

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 49

having abrogated the law which existed at the time of its con-
clusion, the former could no longer be re-established except by
the power that had abrogated it, but he differed from the
opinion of the council in that he thought the Gallican Church
was sufficient to pronounce the re-establishment of the ancient
law, without which there would be a gap in the legislation of the
Church. The emperor did not explain his thought further,
having been interrupted by other business.

The ecclesiastical commission, however, on the simple obser-
vation contained in the note, discussed the question anew without
entering too much into the idea of the emperor, for it commences
by saying : that it persists in believing that the convocation of a
national council is the only canonical way that can lead to the
desired end. It supposes that : the council will address at first to
the pope respectful remonstrances on the results likely to be entailed
by a refusal prolonged any further, on the necessity in which the
■emperor and the clergy would find themselves to provide by some other
-means for tlie preservation of religion and for the perpetuity of the
episcopacy, and that they would propose afterwards all the means
of conciliation, &c. . . . and if the pope refused these prayers and
these conciliations of the assembled clergy of France, the council
would examine (which we did not believe we ought to do) if it
be competent to re-establish a mode of canonical institution which
could replace the mode established by the Concordat. If it judged
itself competent, it would decree, under the good pleasure of his
Majesty, a regulation of discipline on this matter, but declaring
that this regulation is only provisory, and that tlie Church of Fra7ice
would not cease to demand the observation of the Concordat, being
■at all times ready to return to it. . . . And if the national council
did uot judge itself competent, it would appeal to a general council,
tJie only authority in the Church which is above the pope.

And if this resource became impossible because the pope would
not recognize the council nor preside over it, or if in the political
circumstances its convocation should present too many difficulties to
assemble it — what would it be proper to do for the good of
religion ? — Seeing the impossibility of having recourse to the general
council, and seeing the imminent danger with which the Church is
menaced, the national council could declare that the confirmation
VOL. II. E

so THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

given by the archbishop to his suffragans, or by the oldest bishop
of the province next to the archbishop, should take the place of the
pontifical bulls until the pope or his successors consented to the full
execution of the Concordat. This is a law of necessity, a law that
the pope himself believed he had power to recognize, when, rising
above all ordinary rules and by an act of authority witlwut example ^
he suppressed all the old bishoprics of France in order to create new
ones.

Is it not astonishing tiiat the ecclesiastic commission, having
arrived at such a solution, did not repeat here that, in order
to put an end to the principal motive of opposition of the pope
(the motive enunciated by him in his letter to Cardinal Caprara,
where he declares that his refusal to give bulls is founded par-
ticularly on the fact that in his prison at Savone he is deprived
of all liberty) the emperor was begged to render to the pope
at least the liberty necessary for the expedition of the bulls in
order to constitute him in the wrong if he then still persisted
in his refusal ? In place of that, the commission was ever dwelling
upon the supposition that the pope only refused the bulls from
purely temporal motives, and above all on account of the in-
vasion of Rome, whilst the pope had formally declared that it was
because he had been deprived of his liberty, of his counsellors,
and even of his secretary, that he refused to have the bulls
expedited.

The commission, which had felt all the force of this claim,
which had already recognized the justice of it, should have
renewed its instances in this respect. The liberty claimed here
by the pope was not a purely temporal object ; it was an indis-
pensable condition to validate the acts of the simplest citizen,
and with much greater reason, those of the Head of the Church.
The commission, in this long and concluding part of the discus-
sion, has too much the appearance of believing that all the
wrongs are on the side of the pope. Is this complacency or
pusillanimity .'' That it did not counsel the emperor to return
Rome may be conceived ; it was not called upon to treat this
political question, which besides, was altogether independent of
that of the delivery of the bulls, which had been submitted to
it ; but not to repeat each day that, before thinking of a council

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 51

or of any other extraordinary remedy, to which they could have
recourse, in case, without any reason, the pope should persist in
his refusal to execute the Concordat, it was necessary to allow
him enough liberty in order that he could not complain that
they did him violence by such a demand, was not only pusil-
lanimity towards the emperor, but also inconsistence ; it was
appearing to wish to prolong the rupture, when perhaps only
a word could have remedied it.

Third Series.

Questions which concern the Churches of Germany, of Italy,
and the Bull of Excommunication.

Question i. — His Majesty, who can justly consider himself
as the most powerful Christian, would feel his conscience dis-
turbed if he paid no attention to the complaints of the
Churches of Germany as to the state of helplessness in which
the pope had left them for ten years. He desires, as suzerain
of Germany, as heir of Charlemagne, as veritable Emperor of
the West, as eldest son of the Church, to know what course he
ought to take to restore the benefits of religion to the people
of Germany.

Answer. — The one the commission gives to this question
could not be more vague. The protractor believes he ought to re-
call here the ancient compact of the Germanic nation of 1447, and
the treaty of Munster of 1648 ; he then enters into long details
on the Diet of Ratisbon of i S03, which overthrew by so many
secularizations the political and religious state of Germany, and
transferred the see of Mayence to Ratisbon ; on the preparatory
conferences of 1804, between the nuncio of the pope, and the
referendary of the Empire ; on the act of the Confederation of
the Rhine, July 12, 1806 ; on the abdication of the imperial
crown of Germany by the Emperor Francis H. (August 6,
1806), which effected the dissolution of the Germanic body; on
the divers pretensions of a multitude of princes in regard to
the Catholic clergy, religious instruction, matrimonial dispen-
sations .... on the subjection of the bishops, curates, and
prebendaries of all these princes, and finally on the new diffi-

E 2

52 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

culties caused in any arrangement whatever by the situation of
the Holy Father.

The commission does not see, since the abdication of the
Emperor Francis II., any one but the Protector of the Con-
federation of the Rhine (Napoleon), who can, in conjunction with
the Sovereign Pontiff, remedy these evils, and it limits itself to
expressing wishes.

It must be agreed that there had been much bad grace, and
above all much bad faith on the part of the Emperor Napoleon,
in imputing at this time the religious troubles of Germany to
the state of abandonment in which the pope left for ten years
the Church of Germany, and the argument of the commission
on this point is very feeble and very insignificant.

Question 2. — Is it indispensable to make a new circumscrip-
tion of bishoprics in Tuscany, and in other parts of the Empire .''
If the pope refuses to co-operate in these arrangements, what
course ought his Majesty to follow in order to make them
regular ?

Answer. — The commission thinks that the churches of Tus-
cany are not suffering like those of Germany ; that they are
regularly organized and administered ; that thus a new circum-
scription, although useful, is not urgent. All leads to the belief
it adds, that when the pope shall be surrounded by his counsellors,
his Holiness will give them an active and sustained attention.
Finally, the commission believes that His Majesty can suspend
the ameliorations he is planning for the churches of Tuscany
until the general affairs of the Church are terminated, since the
case of necessity is not here applicable.

Question 3. — The Bull of Excommunication of June 10, 1809,
being contrary to Christian charity as well as to the independ-
ence and honour of the throne, what course must be taken so
that, in times of trouble and calamity, the popes may not arrive
at such an excess of power .''

Answer. — The commission cites at first the extract from this
bull which declares that the authors, abettors, coimsellors and
perpetrators of the outrages {that is to say the invasion of Rome
and of the provinces of the Roman States, as well as the other perse-
cutions) in virtue of book xvii., chapter xi., which it calls attention

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 53

to, have incurred tJte excommunication pronounced by the Council
of Trent, and tlie Holy FatJier excommunicates and anatJiematizes
them, anew, without, nevertheless, nam.ing any special person. His
Holiness forbids even tlie detracting from the rights and privileges
of the persons comprised in this category.

The commission says afterwards: — That the bulls of Boniface
Vin. against Philippe the Fair, of fulius IT. against Louis
Xn., of Sixtus V. against Henry IV. have never taken effect in
France, because the bishops of France refused toadm.it or to publish
them. For the same reason, the bull In Ccena Domini, so long
published in Rome, was always regarded in France as null
and void.

If the bull of fune 10, 1809, had been addressed to tlie bishops
of France, the commission thinks that they would have declared
them, contrary to the discipline of the Galilean Church, to the
authority of the sovereign, and capable, contrary to the intention of
the pope, of troubling public tranquillity.

It reminds tliat Gregory XIV., successor of Sixtus V., issued,
in 1591, MONITORY letters against Henry IV., and that tite
bishops at Chartres declared that the censures and excomm.unica-
tions conveyed by the aforesaid letters were void, as much in
form, as in matter, and that they could not bind nor constrain the
conscience.

The commission limits itself then to declaring : That it does
not doubt tfiat the National Council, if it be assembled, remembering
the true principles regarding this, and the spirit of the Church, in
the application of censures, will declare also its nullity, and will
lodge an appeal as tmich against this bull as against all similar
bulls to tJie General Council, or to the pope better inform.ed,
as has always taken place in tJie Church.

The commission might have added that the monitory letters
against King Henry IV. were consigned to the fire by the
parlements sitting at Tours and at Chalons.

As to Henry IV. himself, then King of Navarre, excom-
municated by Sixtus V. in 1588, it is known that, following his
natural bent, he had this act of appeal posted at the Vatican,
and that the pope only esteemed him the more for that.

The ecclesiastic commission concluded, in its general answer,

54 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

by citing the first article of the declaration of the clergy,
in 1682.1

It was by the delivery of these, January 11, 18 10, that the
commission ended its labours begun on November 16, 1809.

I forgot to say that the work of the commission on the first
series of questions is attributed to the Bishop of Treves ; that
on the second series to the Bishop of Nantes, and that on the
third to the Archbishop of Tours. It is affirmed that Father
Fontana only attended the first sitting, and that M. Emery was
not very punctual at the meetings, and did not sign the answers
of the commission, alleging that it was not proper for him to
put his signature beside those of cardinals and of bishops.

Reflections on this Ecclesiastic Commission.

I can quite conceive the consideration the members of this
commission must have had for the emperor, for fear of irritating
him and driving him to still more violent measures, that is to
say, to a complete rupture with the pope, which would have
revived the schism in the Church of France. But I cannot con-
ceive why they did not try with more persistence to convince
him, that, in order to be justified in imputing wrongs to the
pope, he must, at least, accord him the kind of liberty that he
himself judged necessary in order to give bulls, and to ask
him consequently, what liberty he deemed indispensable for
that. The pope would not have dared to say that he needed
above all Rome and the patrimony of St. Peter ; that would
have been too evidently false, natural though it might be that
he should much desire this restitution, and that he should
not cease to protest against the violence which had deprived
him of his States. He would have been satisfied, without
doubt, to demand a certain number of cardinals, his secretary,
and his papers. If he had demanded more, or having ob-
tained the objects of his first demand he had continued to
refuse the bulls, then the answers of the commission, which we
have just analyzed, would have offered to the public the

^ This article said in substance that God had not given either to Saint Peter or
to his successors any direct or indirect power over temporal matters.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 55

expression of just and suitable opinions, but as long as this
indispensable point was not accorded, to press the pope (in the
situation in which he was placed) by arguments which would
have no value except in case he had been shown that his refusal
was from ill-will, was greatly to enfeeble the reasoning, very
good in other suppositions, but which, outside of that, must
only appear sophistry mingled with a little bad faith and even
with disloyalty.

Before the meeting and deliberations of the ecclesiastic com-
mission, the emperor had made several advances to the pope
in order to conquer his repugnance to give the bulls. He had
had Cardinal Caprara say, in a letter, that this cardinal (who
was no longer a legate, but who was, however, at Paris) wrote
to the pope then at Savone, July 20, 1809, that the emperor
consented to his own name (the emperor's), and even his right of
nomination not being mentioned in the bulls which would then
be delivered on the simple demand of the Council of State or of
the Minister of Public Worship. To which the pope replied,
August 26, that this Council of State, or this minister, being
the organs of the emperor, it would be equivalent to recognizing
in the emperor the right of nomination and the faculty of
exercising it, which he did not wish to do.

And why did he not wish to recognize this right \ Was it
then on account of the excommunication .i* If so, that was
showing an unreasonable humour and beginning to place him-
self in the wrong. Why, too, should the emperor have made
this sacrifice t Would it not have been better not to have made
any, and to have tried the effect upon the Holy Father of
sufficient liberty that he might grant him >.

The year 1 810, far from bringing any alleviation to the
situation of the pope and giving him, according to the wishes
and prayers of the ecclesiastic commission, a little more liberty,
aggravated, on the contrary, this situation, and rendered his
captivity harder.

In effect, on February 17, 1810, appeared the senatus-
consultum pronouncing the union of the Roman States with
the French Empire ; the independence of the imperial throne of
all authority on earth, and annulling the temporal existence of

S6 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

the popes. This senatus-consultum assured a pension to the
pope, but it ordained also that the pope should take oath to d&
nothing in opposition to the four articles of 1682. On the same
day another senatus-consultum, which awards to the eldest son
of the emperor the title of King of Rome, and enacts that the
emperor shall be consecrated a second time at Rome, was
passed.^

All these dispositions were hostile and irritating. The pope
was not accorded even the right and liberty of complaining.
How could he consider he had enough liberty for the rest ?
To order by a senatus-consultum an oath from a captive pope,
and an oath to do nothing against the four articles of 1682, were
two points irritating in the highest degree, and very evidently-
inadmissible, above all when they were imposed with such
imperiousness.

The pope must have consoled himself, besides, even to
rejoicing, that they made the insulting pension they offered
him depend upon the taking of such an oath, and it is that
which furnished him with a reply so nobly apostolic : tJiat lie
had no need of this pension, and that he would live on the charity
of the faithful.

All must be told. In spite of his captivity at Savone, the
Holy Father had however replied in 1809 to each of the
letters of nineteen bishops who had demanded of him extra-
ordinary powers for dispensations of marriage, and had granted
them. On November 5, 18 10, he published, at least as much as
he could, his brief against Cardinal Maury, and addressed it
to him in response to the communication the cardinal had made
to him on his nomination to the archbishopric of Paris. The

^ The senatus-consultum of February 17, 1820, stipulated besides :

That the papal States should form two departments : that of Rome and that of
Trasimeno ;

That a prince of the blood or a high dignitary should keep the imperial court at
Rome ;

That all foreign sovereignty was incompatible with the exercise of any spiritual
authority in France ;

That palaces should be prepared for the Sovereign Pontiff in all the various
portions of the Empire where he might be pleased to reside ; that at all events a
palace should always be at his disposal in Paris, and another in Rome ;

That' his Holiness should enjoy an income of two millions of francs, derived
from capital invested in country estates ;

That the expenses of the Sacred College and those of the Propaganda should be
provided for by the State.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 57

cardinal, while waiting for the bulls of confirmation, had taken,
the administration of the diocese which had been conferred
upon him by the metropolitan chapter. The pope, in his brief,,
reproaches him with having abandoned the holy cause, which he
had so well defended hitherto ; with having violated his oath,
with having left his see of Montefiascone, and taken the admin-
istration of a see with which he could not be charged. He orders
him to renounce it, and not force him to proceed against him
conformably to the canons of the Church. This brief made a
great noise, and caused, January i, 181 1, the public disgrace of
Abbe d'Astros who had made it known, and soon after of his
relation, M. Portalis the younger, who had learned it from him.^
There was here, it cannot be denied, a little contradiction on
the part of the pope. To be able to issue a brief against Cardinal
Maury ; to be able to reply to nineteen letters from bishops who
demanded powers, and accord them ; — and not to be able, for
want of liberty, to deliver the bulls of confirmation and put
a stop to the long viduity of the churches ; was that very
consistent .?

Two other facts came to the support of this reflection.
Towards the end of the year 18 10, the emperor had named
for the archbishopric of Florence M. d'Osmond,^ Bishop of
Nancy. Pius VII., by a brief of December 2, 1810, declared that
this bishop could not administer the diocese of Florence, sup-,
porting himself for that on the decisions of the second Council of
Lyons, and on those of the Council of Trent, which were not
really applicable to this circumstance. The chapter of Florence
deferred to the order of the pope, which caused trouble in the

* This brief had been addressed by Pius VII. to Abbe d'Astros, vicar-general
of the diocese of Paris. He communicated it to his cousin, Comte Portalis, then
councillor of state and director of the hbrary. Both kept the secret and the brief
was published. Napoleon had knowledge of these facts ; his anger was very great. At
the sitting of the Council of State of January 4, 181 1, he vehemently reproached Comte
Portalis for his conduct, deprived him of all his functions and exiled him to Provence.
As to Ab^le d'Astros, he was arrested and confined at Vincennes, whence he was not
released until 1814.

* Antoine, Baron d'Osmond, bom in 1754, was at first vicar-general of M. de
Brienne, Archbishop of Toulouse. On May i, 1785, he was consecrated Bishop of
Comminge to succeed his uncle. He emigrated at the Revolution, resigned his seat in
1801, and was named Bishop of Nancy in 1802. In 1810, he was named Archbishop
of Florence, but the pope refused to confirm him, and he was obliged, in 1814, to
retake his see of Nancy. He died in 1823.

58 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

city. Napoleon had also named for the bishopric of Asti a M.
Dejean ; ^ this brought forth another brief from the pope in
order that the chapter should not confide to him the power of
administration. The emperor, who saw that the pope wished to
put limits to his power, then gave way to great violence.

On January i, 1811, occurred the affair of Abb^ d' Astros,
who was arrested as he went out of the Tuileries. The chapter
of Paris deprived him of his powers as grand vicar, and profited
by this occasion to write, probably under the eyes of Cardinal
Maury, a letter to the emperor, in which they established the
right of the chapter to provide for the vacant see, and to confer
upon a nominated bishop all the capitulary powers, that is to say,
all the episcopal jurisdiction, basing this on what had been
practised in the time of Louis XIV., and even by the advice of
Bossuet, they said, though without being able to prove it. This
letter, sent to all the dioceses of France and Italy, drew to them
the adherence of a multitude of bishops and chapters, both in
Italy and in France, who confirmed this doctrine.

The publication of all the briefs of which I have just spoken,
far from disposing the emperor to grant more liberty to the pope,
persuaded him that he had too much, since he thus abused it.
The order was given January 7, 181 1, to make a strict perquisi-
tion in his apartment. They ransacked everything, even his
writing-desk ; and his papers and those of the members of his
household were sent to Paris. There was found, it is said, a
brief which conferred extraordinary powers on Cardinal di
Pietro.* Then they took from the pope pens, ink, and paper.
They took away his master of the chamber and the prelate Doria,
his confessor. They deprived him of all communication with the
Bishop of Savone ; * they seized the papers of the latter and

' Francois Andre, Baron Dejean, bom at Castelnaudary in 1745, nominated Bishop
of Asti, February 9, 1809.

^ Michel di Pietro, bom in 1747, had been instituted apostolic delegate by Pius
VI. in 1798, when that pope was carried away from Rome by order of tlie Directory.
Pius VII. named him Patriarch of Jerusalem, cardinal and prefect of the Propaganda.
He was obliged to come to Paris after the arrest of the pope, and was exiled to
Semur for having refused to assist at the marriage of Napoleon and Marie-Louise.
He returned to Rome in 1815, and became Grand Penitentiary and Bishop of Albano.
He died in 1821.

' Here is the order signified to the Holy Father by the prefect of Montenotte, M.
de Chabrol, according to the instructions sent from Paris: — "The undersigned,
according to the orders emanating from his sovereign, His Imperial and Royal

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 59-

even removed him to Paris. There remained to the pope a few
servants, to whom were assigned about forty sous per day for
their expenses. It was at the moment when the emperor gave
himself up to such unworthy violence, and when the pope con-
tinued his noble and legitimate refusal, for that which concerned
him personally, that Napoleon decided to appoint a second
ecclesiastic commission.

Second Ecclesiastic Commission.

Formed in January, 181 1, this Commission ended its labours
at the end of March. It was composed of Cardinals Fesch,
Maury, and Caselli ; of the Archbishop of Tours, the Bishops of
Ghent,^ Evreux, Nantes, and Treves, and of the Abbe Emery.

It had to reply only to these two questions :

Question I. — All communication between the pope and the
subjects of the emperor, being interrupted for the present, to
whom is it necessary to apply to obtain the dispensations that
would be accorded by the Holy See t

Question II. — When the pope persistently refuses to accord
the bulls to the bishops nominated by the emperor, to iill the
vacant seats, what is the legitimate means of giving them
canonical confirmation .■*

The Commission, before responding, expresses first its pro-
found grief that all communication between the pope and the
subjects of the emperor has just been broken. It can only foresee
days of mourning and affliction for the Church, if these communi-
cations remain long suspended.

Majesty Napoleon, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Con-
federation of the Rhine .... is charged to notify Pope Pius VII. that he is for-
bidden to communicate with any church of the empire, and with any subject of the
emperor under pain of disobedience on his part and on theirs, that he who preaches
rebellion and whose soul is full of gall ceases to be the organ of the Church ; that since
nothing can render him wise, he shall see that his Majesty is powerful enough to do
what his predecessors have done and deposeapope. — Savour, January 14, i8n." —
{M. de Bacourt. )

1 Maurice-Madeleine de Broglie (1766-1821), third son of Marshal de Broglie,
Bbhopof Acqui and chaplain of the emperor in 1805, promoted to the bishopric of
Ghent in 1809 ; was imprisoned on account of his resistance to the wishes of the
emperor at the council of 181 1. On his return to his episcopal see in 1814, he pro-
tested against various dispositions of the constitution of the Kingdom of the Lovf
Countries, was eidled anew, and came to die in Paris.

6o THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

It was well to demand the liberty of the pope. But the
Commission should not have limited itself to placing that in the
preamble. It ought to have returned to it in its replies, other-
wise it had the appearance of wishing to get rid, in a preliminary
formula, not to return to it any more, of this objection which so
strongly accused Napoleon.

Answer to the first question. — The Commission thinks that
the power of reserving dispensations attributed to the pope in
the Church of the West is very suitable in all that regards the
general discipline of the clergy, and that, without examining
whether it is of divine right or not, it has become, by this same
suitability and by a very long exercise, a sort of common law,
from which one ought not to seek exemption. But as to the
reserve of the dispensations relative to the daily needs of the
faithful, which is found also with many local diversities in his
powers, the Commission affirms, without hesitation, that the
bishops have, each in his diocese, entirely in their power to grant to
the faithful the dispensations and absolutions belonging thereto; that
this power has never been withdrawn by any law, nor by any canon ;
that it is even untransferable, and that they recover this power very
naturally, above all when, as in the present circumstances, recourse
to the pope is almost impossible.

Answer to tJte second question. — This question had already
been proposed to the Commission of 1809, and solved in some
fashion by it. It had been reproduced here because the
emperor presumed that he would have a more precise reply
and more nearly like the note he had dictated, at the time, to
M. Duvoisin ; in this he was not entirely deceived. The new
Commission first laid stress on the fact that the pope had con-
tinued to refuse the bulls, without alleging any canonical reason
for his refusal, in spite of the supplications of the churches of
France, and notwithstanding that the results of this refusal
became every day more fatal. It recalled what passed in the
time of Innocent XL, when the bishops nominated by the king
could govern their dioceses in virtue of the powers given to them
by the chapter. Fl^chier, thus appointed successively at Lavaur
and at Nlmes, afforded a proof of this. It proceeded to say that
the pope, in proscribing, by briefs addressed to the chapters of

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 6i

Paris, Florence, and Asti, this mode adopted in all times by the
Church of France, openly attacked the ancient discipline of this
Church, which was a sad proof of the prejudices that had been
inspired in him.

But the emperor, adds the Commission, does not wish longer to
■make the existence of episcopacy in France depend on the canonical
confirmation of the pope, who would thus be master of the
episcopacy. What must be done ? It agrees that tlie Concordat
gives a very fnarked advantage to the pope over the sovereign of
Fra}ice. The prince loses the right to nom.inate if in a fixed time
he does not present a suitable nominee. (The Commission is entirely
mistaken here : he never loses it ; if so, to whom would it pass ?)
In order that there should be equality, it would be necessary that
the pope, on his side, should be obliged to give the confirm.ation, or
to produce a canonical motive for refusing, in a determinate time,
in default of which he would lose his right of confirmation, which
would devolve upon whoever had the right. This clause is lacking
in the Concordat. It ought to be added to it ; it is the simplest
measure and the most conformed to the principles. The emperor,
said the Commission, is right in exacting it, and the pope ought
to consent to it (these are the terms employed) ; and if he did
not consent, it would justify, in tJie eyes of Europe, the entire
abolition of the Concordat, and the recourse to another m,eans of
conferring canonical confirmation. (The Commission of 1809
had not used such strong and decided language.)

However just might bi, under the circumstances, the entire
abolition of the Concordat, however legitimate might be the re-
establishment of the Pragmatic Sanction or of any other method
of canonical confirmation, the Commission thought, however,
that it would be necessary to prepare the minds, and to have tlie
faithful convinced that there remained no other resource for
giving bishops to the Church of France, without which the
position of the bishops confirmed according to the new fortns
would be untenable. This change tvould be likened to the civil
constitution of the clergy of ijgi, and would produce t/te same
troubles. Enlightened persons -would clearly see that it cannot be
compared with an ecclesiastical constitution decreed by a purely
political autJtority, against the sentiment of the Sovereign Potitiff

62 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

and of nearly all the bishops of France. But others would
probably not grasp the difference well, chiefly seeing the authority
of the emperor displayed with so much ardour against the Holy
Father. The one side in this struggle would take part for the
pope against the French episcopacy ; the others would be separated
too much from, the Holy See, and the schism would thus revive
with all its disorders. It was barely stamped out in 1801, by
means of the perfect accord between the pope and the majority of
the bishops. How much cause should we not have to fear its
revival, if the bishops should declare themselves separated from the
pope by so grave a decision ?

However, things cannot be left in their present state. The
jurisdiction accorded by the chapters to the nominated bishops,
besides its having also the grave inconvenience of being dis-
approved by the pope, does not really give to the dioceses the posses-
sion of a complete episcopacy. If then the pope persists in his
refusal without a canonical motive, we •permit ourselves to express
the desire that it be declared to His Holiness, either that the Con-
cordat already broken by his own action shall be publicly abolished
by the emperor, or that it will only be preserved by favour of a
clause appropriate for insuring against arbitrary refusals, which
render those rights illusory which the Concordat assures to our
sovereign.

These are the exact words of the Commission. It recognized
then that the emperor had, in the present case, the right to
declare the Concordat abolished, under the condition of seeking
afterwards some means of doing without it. Then what other
means were there, if not to recur to the ancient law, according
to which bulls were not necessary (I make use of the expression
of the Commission), or, if it was desired to retain the Concordat,
to add to it a clause by which the right of the pope would pass
to another authority, in default of being exercised by him within
a determined time.

Thus, either the Concordat will be declared abolished, or it
will be modified by the aid of a clause accepted by both parties,
and which will prevent all abuses.

I remark that in the first case, they could do without the
pope entirely, if he persisted in his refusal, and seek elsewhere

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 63

some canonical authority different from his. This is said by the

Commission without the least restriction. The emperor does not

wish, it says, that the episcopacy in France should depend upon

the confirmation by the pope, who would thus be master of the

episcopacy, and it proves that it is right, that it is just, and entirely

within the powers of the emperor, that the Concordat should be

abolished by him, since it is no longer executed except by him

It expresses in this respect neither doubt nor regret ; it is the

fault of the pope. But, from that to say that the emperor

could do the rest, or advise means by which the rest could be

done, was hardly a step. For if the emperor had not in himself

or at his disposition all that was necessary in order to secure

the substitution of another confirmation than that by the pope,

of what use would it be for him to abolish the Concordat .'' He

might find himself as embarrassed then in abolishing it, as he

was before.

The Commission, however, did not wish to take this step.
It thought, it declared, that, by principle as by prudence, it was
necessary that a national council should determine or find this
confirmation. But was it sure that the council, influenced by
party spirit and by intrigues of all kinds, would believe itself to
possess such a right ? Would it not raise new difficulties, instead
of solving those it was called to settle .'' Would it consent to
seek whence the confirmation of the bishops might proceed }
The solution might then remain incomplete.

The Commission ought not to have dwelt so much upon the
right of the emperor to abolish the Concordat, and to have pro-
claimed it so loudly, since it could not acquaint him with a
means of doing without it. It was a mistake, I believe, and
an inconsistency on the part of the Commission.

I have thought sometimes that if the emperor had made
the Bishop of Nantes Minister of Public Worship, they might
have been able to do without a council which could only involve
matters. That bishop, so honest, so skilful, so versed in theo-
logical knowledge, acting with the threefold authority of minister,
bishop, and finished theologian, over each of the other bishops
separately, would have much more easily obtained their con-_
sent to substitute another canonical confirmation for that of the

64 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

pope, than he could in a council where each bishop feared to
appear governed by one more skilful than himself, and where
the united bishops had no longer the same fear of the emperor
that each of them had in private. Perhaps even the pope
himself would have released them all from embarrassment by
giving the confirmation this time for fear of losing the right of
conferring it in the future.

Be it as it may with this idea which is purely conjectural,
there was another supposition to be discussed besides that of
the abolition of the Concordat ; it was that of its modification
by a clause which would for ever prevent abuses, and this was
incontestably everything that was most desirable and the step
most conformable to the principles, and the most suitable, even
in the opinion of the Commission, to reassure all consciences.

By that, in fact, both the contracting parties could be
satisfied. The pope, in the drafting of it, could have reconciled
this clause with even his most ultramontane views, by
declaring that, after the expiration of the three or six months,
he would authorize the archbishop to replace him ; thus it
was he who was still the source of power ; he would be
compromising nothing, even in the eyes of the most fas-
tidious, and I think that this concession on the part of the
pope might have been obtained, had the negotiation been well
conducted. The emperor on his side, would have had all that
he wished, more even than he wished up to that time ; for, up
to the existence of the Commission, he had only desired that the
pope should give the bulls to the bishops nominated by him,
consenting even that the pope should not insert the name of
the emperor in these bulls ; and in following the course I
propose. Napoleon would have obtained, moreover, even with the
consent of the pope, that they should no longer be refused by
him in the future, without the confirmation he refused being
at once replaced by an act none the less canonical. To obtain
that from the pope, without returning to him Rome and his
states, would have been a triumph worthy of the fabulous
destiny of Napoleon, a triumph a thousand times more im-
portant in its results than if he had secured it by means of a
national council.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 65

But the commission itself had, in the first place, put an
obstacle in the way of obtaining such a clause. While agreeing
that this clause in the Concordat was all that could most be
desired, it had always insisted that to obtain it, or to do without
it, it would be necessary to have recourse to a national council,
which was not putting an end to the difficulty, for if the council
eluded the question instead of solving it, what would become
of it ? It had been careful, however, not to do away with the
idea of a negotiation : only it did not believe itself qualified to
make the proposition, not having been assembled for that.

What the commission did not believe it had the right to do,
the Bishop of Nantes ventured to attempt it directly with the
emperor, out of fear, no doubt, of the scandal that would accrue
from the sudden rupture of the Concordat, which in the
preambles of the decree, would surely be accompanied by hard
expressions, and consequently of injurious effect. M. Duvoisin
was also perhaps uneasy as to the dispositions in which the
council might be, or as to those which might be suggested to it
when it was once assembled. He therefore pressed the emperor
not to send, if that did not suit him, the members of the
commission to make a last effort with the pope, but merely to
authorize them to go.

The emperor resisted for a long time, and M. Duvoisin had
much difficulty in inducing him to yield. In a moment of
passion he had resolved to destroy the Concordat ; he had said
it, and he did not wish to retract ; I believe, in truth, he rather
gloried in it, although there was not much occasion to do so.
He wished, he said, to have done with the pope. The Concordat
once destroyed, he believed all would be finished. He had con-
sented, it is true, to summon a council, but he thought he had
nothing to fear from it. " The Concordat once abolished by a
decree," said he, " the council would of course be required, if it
wished to preserve the episcopacy, to propose auother mode of
confirmation for the bishops, since they could not have recourse
to a Compact which would exist no longer."

M. Duvoisin did not give himself up as conquered, but
insisted still ; finally he decided the emperor, who, while yielding,
•did it with such a bad grace, that he applied himself in the
VOL. II. F

66 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

instructions he gave more to increase the difficulties than to
level them ; he seemed anxious to make the negotiation fail-
It was known that the instructions given by the Minister of
Public Worship ^ to the bishops leaving for Savona had been
dictated by the emperor. The minister, who did not wish to be
held responsible for them, had told it to several influential
members of the clergy.

Instead of confining himself to the important point he would
have been so happy to obtain, Napoleon desired the bishops to
make the most inadmissible demands, as if it were a favour he
was according to the pope to maintain the Concordat, even with
the clause that he claimed. He wished them to inform him
before all, that a national council was convened for June 9
following, and to expose to him the measures that the Church
of France would be likely to take after former precedents.
He would consent to maintain the Concordat, he said, in these
same instructions, only provided the pope would first con-
firm all the nominated bishops, and agree that, in future, the
confirmations should be made by the archbishop, in case he
should not have confirmed them himself in the term of three
months. He wished, and this was a strict order, that the
negotiators should declare to the pope that he should never re-
enter Rome as sovereign ; but that he would be permitted to
return there simply as head of the Catholic religion, if he con-
sented to ratify the modifications demanded, to be introduced
in the Concordat. In case it should no longer suit him to go
to Rome, he could reside at Avignon, where he would enjoy
sovereign honours, and where he would have the liberty of ad-
ministering to the spiritual interests of the other countries of
Christendom. Finally, they were to offer him two millions, all
this on condition that he would promise to do nothing in the
Empire contrary to the four articles of 1682.

1 The Minister of Public Worship was then Jean Bigot de Preameneu. Born in
1747, he had been an advocate in the Parlement. In 1791, he was elected deputy
from Paris to the Legislative Assembly, and became its president in 1792. He
lived in retirement during the Revolution. After the i8th Brumaire, he was named
commissioner of the government at the Tribunal of Cassation, then councillor of
state and president of the Legislative Section. He took part in the commission
appointed with drawing up the civil code. In 1808, he became Minister of Public
Worship. The first restoration retained him in his office, and created him peer of
France. He lived in retirement under the second, and died in 1825.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 67

The three negotiating deputies were : the Archbishop of
Tours, the Bishop of Nantes and the Bishop of Treves, to
whom were added the Bishop of Faenza ^ nominated Patriarch
of Venice, who was himself to repair to Savona. They
were deputed by all the cardinals and bishops who were then
in Paris, and who had given to them seventeen letters addressed
to the Holy Father ; the longest and most pressing was that of
Cardinal Fesch.

Furnished with these letters, instructions and powers for
concluding and signing an arrangement, the three deputies
started at the end of April, 181 1. They arrived at Savona
on the 9th of May. It had been strongly recommended to them
to return to Paris eight days before the opening of the council,
that is before June 9; they left Savona, in fact, May 19.

The contents of the letters, nine in number, they wrote from
Savona to the Minister of Public Worship, and of the more
detailed one they wrote to him afterwards from Paris, on their
return, show with what wisdom and what propriety they con-
ducted this negotiation, and how they led the pope, while
disguising nothing from him, to show each day to them a
sweeter and more conciliating disposition, and to cause him to '
consent at last, with a few slight modifications, to the principal
demands they were charged to submit to him, or if one prefers,
to impose upon him.

It is worthy of remark that on the day after their arrival,
the pope, on seeing them, showed at first some uneasiness lest
they came to announce to him that the future council was going
to constitute itself a judge of his conduct. They denied most
forcibly this idea, and made use of forms of the greatest respect
in order to calm him. It was pretended at the time, that the
fear he had allowed himself to manifest might well have had some
influence on his benevolent dispositions. He resisted during the
first days without bitterness, with an extreme moderation and
even with some words of affection for the emperor ; but what
they demanded of him was so important, that it necessitated his
conferring with his customary counsellors, and he complained of

1 Monsignor Buonsignori, appointed by Napoleon, Patriarch Archbishop of
Venice.

F 2

68 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

being deprived of them. The three negotiators could not return
them to him, but they neglected nothing to persuade him that
he would no longer be deprived of them, when he should have
entered into the conciliatory and pacific ideas of which they
were the agents with him ; they added that for that which
concerned the bulls, there was no need of much deliberation nor
of counsellors ; that in the main the demand was just and that
he must see clearly how important it was for the good of the
faithful, of the dioceses and of religion, that he should grant
the bulls to the nominated bishops ; and, in his own interest, as
sovereign pontiff, that he should preserve, in adopting the new
clause in the Concordat, this precious tie with the episcopacy of
France, which would be broken if that Compact were once
abolished.

The pope made new objections, but each day less strong ;
he expressed regret, never the appearance of ill-will. The
bishops made no haste to speak to him of the sovereignty of
Rome, for fear of injuring the principal negotiation. They
believed, besides, that they could perceive that the Holy Father,
no longer expecting to recover this sovereignty, would doubtless
•always protest upon this point, since he had not the right
to make the sacrifice of it ; but that he would engage to
not return to Rome, rather than consent to take the oath by
which he would recognize the emperor as sovereign ; finally,
that he felt that the deprivation of this sovereignty ought not
to prevent him from governing the Church, as soon as his coun-
sellors should have been returned to him. The pope was then
resigned ; it was all that the negotiating deputies wanted.

There was no real discussion on the subject of the Bull of
Excommunication, on which, however, the bishops had had
occasion to express their views. The Holy Father did not
seem to them to hold to it, and but rather to consent to regard
it as not having been issued.

The pope resisted gently but constantly, to make the promise
to regard as a disciplinary regulation for the clergy of France
the four articles of 16S2. He showed himself well disposed in
favour of the first of these articles, which recognized the inde-
pendence of the temporal sovereignty. But why, he added,

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 6$

exact from him a declaration on the three other articles ? He
gave his word of honour to do nothing against them ; they could
rely upon him. How could they demand of him what had
never been demanded of any pope, a written promise to this
effect ? There was a question here on one side and on the other
as to free opinions. Bossuet himself did not ask anything else.
He had taken care not to expose his to the theologians of
Italy and above all to the pope. The Holy Father referred
often to the bull of Alexander VHI. (Ottoboni) successor to
Innocent XL, who far from relaxing from the inflexibility of his
predecessor, had issued a bull against the declaration of 1682,
three days before his death. He agreed that this bull had had
no results ; he did not seek to justify it, but was it for him to
judge his predecessor and to condemn him .' Would it not be
said in Italy and in all Christendom, that he had con-
sented to give this promise from weariness of his captivity .''
His memory would be tarnished by such suspicion. These
questions were, besides, complicated and difficult ; there were

none on which he stood more in need of counsel

As to the bulls, we have not been able, wrote the three bishops,
after seven or eight interviews, to obtain from the pope, the
promise to accord them to the bishops already nominated ; he
does not believe he can decide anything for the future without
his council, and consequently, to consent to the new and im-
portant clause, which would be inserted in the Concordat. We
exhausted, on this point, all possible arguments and con-
siderations, and we announced with regret that we would start
on the morrow. This prompt departure appeared to affect him ;
he expressed to us the desire to see us again ; we yielded to his
desire, and it seemed to us that he no longer held to any point,
except obtaining the substitution of the term of six months for
that of three in which to exercise his right of confirmation. We
presumed that that would not make any real difficulty ; we
therefore expressed all our confidence in regard to this. Finally
we led him, little by little, to agree to the following articles,
drawn up, in a measure, under his dictation, and of which he
wished to retain a copy as a witness to his own concessions, and
of his ardent desire to restore peace in the Church.

70 the memoirs of prince talleyrand.

Articles to Which the Pope Consented.

His Holiness, taking into consideration the needs and tiie
wish of the Churches of France and of Italy, which have been
presented to him by the Archbishop of Tours and by the
Bishops of Nantes, Treves, and Faenza, and wishing to give to
these Churches a new proof of his paternal affection, has
declared to the above-named archbishop and bishops

1. That he will accord canonical confirmation to the bishops
and archbishops nominated by His Imperial and Royal Majesty,
in the form agreed upon, at the time of the Concordats of
France and Italy.

2. His Holiness will hold himself ready to extend the same
dispositions to the Churches of Tuscany, Parma, and Plaisance,
by a new Concordat.

3. His Holiness consents that there should be inserted in the
Concordats, a clause by which he agrees to expedite the bulls
of confirmation to the bishops nominated by His Majesty, in a
fixed time which His Holiness esteems should not be less than
six months ; and, in case he should defer longer than six months
for other reasons than the personal unworthiness of the candi-
dates, he would invest with the power of giving the bulls in his
name, after the expiration of the six months, the archbishop of
the vacant see, and in default of him, the oldest bishop of the
province.

4. His Holiness only determines upon these concessions in
the hope which has arisen from the interviews he has had with
the deputy-bishops, that they would prepare the way for
arrangements which would re-establish order and peace in the
Church, and would restore to the Holy See the liberty, in-
dependence and dignity which are befitting to it.

Savon A, May it^th, 181 1.

The declaration they obtained thus from the pope was a
grand thing which closed so to say, for the future, all debate
between the French government and the court of Rome. How
could it in future trouble order in France .' The canonical
confirmation of the bishops was the only arm by which the
refusal of a pope and his inaction could bring trouble ; his action
could never bring it ; for it could only be produced by
briefs of bulls .... and France would always keep up the

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 71

custom of not permitting their publication until she had had
them examined and judged as containing nothing contrary to
the laws of the country. All hostile will of a pope and even all
dissidence which would displease, would be paralyzed by this.
It mattered little what the pope thought of Galilean liberties,
since it would not be in his power to arrest the effect of them.
To wish to make him sign in advance some promise to this
effect, was then entirely useless. The pope himself had said so ;
and besides, it was only a petty tyranny they exercised over him.
They had the word of honour of the Holy Father ; that was
indeed something ; it was even much more than any pope had
ever done : and if he had not given it, there would have resulted
no danger, not even the slightest inconvenience.

I forgot to say that there was another point on which he had
shown in his conversation that he would never yield : it was
that by which the emperor had the pretension to reserve to
himself the nomination to all the bishops of Italy, leaving to
the pope only the confirmation. " What ! " said he with emotion,
" to recompense subjects, even cardinals who shall have served
with zeal and talent the pontifical administration, the pope
could not even nominate a single bishop in all Christendom,
even in the churches which, from time immemorial, have formed
part of the diocese of Rome, and whose titles would become
annulled by a simple compact ? That would indeed be

terrible " This was his expression, the only one of the

kind which escaped him in his interviews with the French
bishops. They had nothing to reply to him on this point, the
wish of the Holy Father appearing to them so natural.

They had occasion to speak to him of the two millions of
income in rural property, fixed by the decree of February 17,
1810, for the maintenance of the pope. Pius VII. began by an
absolute refusal, being pleased to repeat what he had said from
the outset, that he wished to live on very little and on the assist-
ance that might be procured from the charity of the faithful.
But the bishops combated this resolution, noble as it was, by
showing him that he might deprive his successors of the temporal
advantages accorded by the emperor, of the sovereign honours,
and of means of communicating with Catholic princes ; and

72 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

also of the resources necessary for the maintenance of the Sacred
College, which, by virtue of the decree of February 17, 1810, was
charged to the imperial treasury.

These considerations appeared to shake him ; he did not
insist ; but nothing was decided on this point.

The bishops returned to France convinced that with more
liberty and good advice, the Holy Father, if his susceptibilities
were not offended, might still make new concessions on several
points of some importance. But they had obtained the prin-
cipal one.

Such a negotiation, so well commenced, ought to have
removed all contest in the end.

What was necessary for that .' A single thing, it seems to
me : not to allow the council to open, and to adjourn it for
a month. During this time. Napoleon would have treated with
the pope on the article of the bulls and on the new clause to be
added to the Concordat, without interfering with anything else.
He might have returned to him a few counsellors and sufficient
liberty, and the pope would have held himself in honour bound
to ratify what he had promised, as the result of an intimate
conviction, at least in appearance.

This treaty once signed, the emperor would no longer have
need of the council, and he might be all the more inclined to
adjourn it indefinitely, because its convocation had already
thrown upon him some ridicule, which he could hardly
ignore. Besides, would it not be better for him to agree to
terminate with the pope himself, all of whose prejudices he had
been able to conquer through his negotiators, than to have to
do with an assembly which would surely be tumultuous, and
probably, for him, ungovernable .■' With the promise of the
pope, what was there to be done by a council which had only
been convoked on the supposition that the pope would never
consent to give confirmation to the nominated bishops, and still
less to bind himself for the future in such a manner that he
could no longer refuse this confirmation .? Then all this had
been granted and could be embodied in the treaty. Should
the council wish anything different on this point .' So much the
worse ! and if it wished only that, of what use would be its

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 7 J

intervention ? It was not at all agreeable to the pope ; we
have seen that. It could only be so to the emperor in a case
which no longer existed. And more, it would have been preferable,
in any case, to do without it. Was M. Duvoisin very sure of
directing at his will those ninety-five bishops of France and of
Italy, who, pliable enough individually, might easily become
heated when in a body ? And precisely because they would
feel that there was nothing to be decided, they would be all the
more disposed to create a host of difficulties, to raise incidental
and annoying questions, in order that they should not be
reproached with not having been able to say or do anything.

The emperor counted without doubt on the influence in his
favour Cardinal Fesch would obtain by presiding over the council.
Here he was mistaken, as in all that he had done in raising
every member of his family, with the thought of making use
of him afterwards. His uncle. Cardinal Fesch, had to cause
his origin to be forgotten ; and he wished, as did the brothers of
Napoleon, to derive consideration from his opposition to the
emperor's will and rigour, and not from the credit of his nephew.
Neither the emperor nor the Bishop of Nantes, whom his
success at Savone ought to have better enlightened, felt all the
gravity of the assembling of the council. Napoleon, who was
not disarmed either by the cruel situation of the pope, or by the
prodigious concessions which, in spite of this situation, had been
obtained from him, had some injurious expressions in store
against the pope, and did not wish to lose them. He prized the
ridiculous honour of having them heard in the council, without
thinking that the assembly, even the most cowardly, could not
refuse to show an interest, at least for the sake of propriety, in
the misfortunes of the Holy Father, and would not wish to
dishonour itself openly.

The Bishop of Nantes perhaps also flattered himself, and in
that he was wrong, that he could exercise a paramount in-
fluence in the council, by his great ability, and by his brilliant
and fluent elocution. He believed he could interest at first, and
acquire afterwards a right to, the confidence of the assembly,
by relating his conferences with the pope. He only suc-
ceeded in creating jealousy. They did not pardon him his^

74 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

success ; they refused to believe in it ; and as the four articles
consented to by the pope were not signed by him, they pre-
tended that no account should be taken of them. Besides, they
knew that the emperor bore him special good will ; they soon
spoke of him as being a favourite, and for this reason all his
words were suspected. Thereupon the emperor, in his violence,
spoke as severely of the council as of the pope ; and it was
supposed that M. Duvoisin was the instigator of this language.
Finally, when the latter read one day in the council the project
of an address to the emperor in reply to his message, and when,
on some objections being offered as to its drafting, he had the
inconceivable ill-taste to try to dismiss them, by saying that the
project, as he had just read it, had already been submitted to
the emperor, he was lost irretrievably.

What remains clear for me, is that there cannot have been
an instant when Napoleon must not have repented convoking
this assembly, and having permitted it to meet, since he was
able to ascertain to what extent, after the return of the deputa-
tion from Savone, this council had become useless, and how it
might become fatal for him. It is equally true that with the
intention of the emperor to cause this assembly to turn to the
profit of his power, it was impossible to follow a plan more in-
considerate and more awkward than the one he followed.

I wish only to pass rapidly in review the direction taken by
this assembly and some incidents which relate to it.

The council had been convoked for June 9, 181 1, but, under
the pretext of the baptism of the King of Rome, son of Napoleon,
it did not hold its opening sitting until June 17, in the Church
of Notre Dame. M. de Boulogne,^ Bishop of Troyes, preached
the sermon. The assembly numbered ninety-five bishops (six
were cardinals) and nine bishops nominated by the emperor,
but who had not received their confirmation from the pope.

' Etienne-Antoine de Boulogne, born in 1747, took orders in 1771, was in
1782 grand-vicar of M. de Clermont-Tonnerre at Chalons-sur-Mame. He lived at
Paris during all the Revolution, was imprisoned three times under the Terror, and
proscribed at the i8th Fractidor ; but he then escaped all researches. Under
the Empire, he became grand-vicar of the bishopric of Versailles, then Bishop of
Troyes (1807). At the close of the council of l8il, he was arrested and imprisoned
at Vincennes. He gave in his resignation, and was exiled to Falaise ; but the pope
did not accept his resignation, and M. de Boulogne returned to Troyes in 1814. He
was created peer of France in 1822, and died in 1825.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 75

Cardinal Fesch, as we have said, took, at the first onset, the
presidency, which no one contested with him, and, in the enu-
meration of his titles, that of Primate of Gaul, which came
to him by right in his quality of Archbishop of Lyons. It will
be seen further on, why we make mention of this particular.
After the sermon, the president took the customary oath, which
all the bishops repeated after him, and which is couched in the
following terms :

" I recognize the Holy Catholic Roman, Apostolic Church,
Mother and Mistress of all the other Churches ; I swear a true
obedience to the Roman Pontiff, successor to Saint Peter, Prince
of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ."

This oath produced much effect, in attracting attention to
the unhappy victim to whom it was addressed. Thereupon the
council separated for that day.

On the 1 8th, the very day after the opening, Napoleon invited
some of the bishops to Saint Cloud, to one of those evening
receptions called entries. The Empress Marie Louise and the
ladies who were in attendance upon her were present, as well as
a number of other persons, and among them the Prince Eugene,
Viceroy of Italy. The emperor, taking some coffee that the
empress poured out for him, had Cardinal Fesch, Duvoisin,
Bishop of Nantes ; Mannay, Bishop of Treves ; de Barral,
Archbishop of Tours ; and an Italian prelate introduced. At
the moment they entered. Napoleon seized quickly and so that
they could see him, the Moniteur, placed probably by order on
a table. This paper in his hand, he went up to these gentlemen.
The excited countenance he assumed, the violence and confusion
of his expressions and the attitude of those whom he addressed,
made of this singular conference a scene such as he delighted in
playing, and in which he displayed his brutal coarseness.

The report of the first sitting of the council was re-
produced in the Moniteur the emperor was holding ; he creased
it in his hands. He first attacked Cardinal Fesch, and, what is
curious, he threw himself at the first onset, with singular volu-
bility, into a discussion of ecclesiastical principles and usages,
without the slightest previous knowledge, either historical or
theological.

76 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

" By what right, Monsieur," said he to the cardinal, " do you
take the title of Primate of Gaul ? What ridiculous preten-
sion ! And what is more, without having requested of me the
authority ! I see your subtlety ; it is easy to unravel. Your
object was to raise yourself, Monsieur, in order to call attention
to yourself and to prepare the public for a still higher rank
in the future. Profiting by your relationship with my mother,
you seek to make it believed that I wish one day to make you
the Head of the Church ; for it would not enter into any one's
mind that you would have the audacity to take, without my
authorization, the title of Primate of Gaul. Europe would
believe that I wish thus to prepare her to see in you the future
pope. . . A fine pope, in truth ! . . . With this new title you
wish to frighten Pius VII. and render him more intractable
still ! "

The cardinal, wounded, replied with firmness, and caused one
to forget, by his honourable reply, the little dignity of his figure,
tone, manners, and even the recollection of his former profession,^
of which there were habitually seen too many traces in him, for
the corsair re-appeared often under the coat of the archbishop.
But there, before the emperor, he had all the advantage : he ex-
plained that, from all time there had been in France, not only
a Primate of Gaul, but a Primate of Aquitania, and a Primate
of Neustria. Napoleon, a little astonished, turned towards the
Bishop of Nantes and asked him if that was true. " The fact
is incontestable," said the bishop. Then the emperor left the
cardinal whom alone, until then, he had taken to task. lie
generalized his anger, and on the word obedience in the oath,
which he confounded with obeissance^ he became so heated as even
to call the fathers a council of traitors. " For one is a traitor,"
he added, " when he takes two oaths of fidelity at the same time,
and to two sovereigns, enemies."

The Bishop of Nantes spoke a few words to which the

^ During the first years of the naval war, that is to say in 1793, 1794 and 1795;
Cardinal Fesch commanded a privateer named V Avenlurier. He took several prizes
that he brought to Genoa, which later were the occasion of a suit against him which
he defended warmly before the tribunals of that city, and for which he had several
times to my knowledge demanded the support of the government (Talleyrand).

^ ObHssance means here allegiance, whereas obidience means the homage paid by
Roman Catholics to the pope.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. tj

emperor did not listen. He paid no attention either to the
sad, discontented and reflective air of M. Duvoisin, to the
dejected air of MM. de Barral and Mannay, to the submissive
demeanour of the Italian, or to the angry liveliness of Cardinal
Fesch, and he continued to talk for an hour with an incoherence,
which would have left no recollection other than astonishment
at his ignorance and his loquacity, if the phrase which follows,
and which he repeated every three or four minutes, had not
revealed the depth of his thought. " Messieurs," he exclaimed
to them, " you wish to treat me as if I were Louis le
Ddbonnaire. Do not confound the son with the father. You

see in me Charlemagne I am Charlemagne, I,

yes, I am Charlemagne ! " This " I am Charlemagne," recurred
at each instant. The bishops, after a few vain efforts to make
him understand the difference which exists between the word
obMience, which is only said in a spiritual sense, and that of
obeissance, whose meaning is more extended, became tired at
last of their unfruitful attempts. There was nothing for them to
do but to wait, in the most profound silence, until fatigue put
an end to this ill-regulated flow of words. The Bishop of
Nantes, profiting then by a moment of rest, asked the
emperor to speak to him in private. Napoleon went out, and
he followed him into his cabinet. It was nearly midnight, and
each one went his way, carrying from Saint-Cloud strange im-
pressions.

As a result of this scene the emperor exacted that the two
Ministers of Public Worship, M. Bigot de Pr6ameneu for France,
and M. Bovara for Italy, should attend all the sittings of the
council. This was an impropriety added to so many others,
these two laymen in the midst of an assembly entirely ecclesiastic,
where they had no right to take part in the deliberations, and
could only occupy there a position as humiliating for the
assembly as for themselves.

The two ministers went, therefore, to the second sitting of
the council, which was held on June 20. They produced an
imperial decree which ordered that a committee should be formed
of the president, three bishops, and of the two ministers, and that
this committee should direct the operations of the council. There

78 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

was some debate on this subject, but they took no notice of it,
and the committee was composed of Cardinal Fesch, president ;
the Archbishop of Bordeaux (M. d'Aviau),^ the Archbishop of
Ravenna (Codronchi), the Archbishop of Nantes, and the two
ministers. The latter read immediately a message from the
emperor, which was nothing more than a long manifesto against
Pius VII. and against all popes in general. It was the emperor
who had done everything for religion ; it was the pope who did
everything against it in France and in Italy ; such was, in short,
the sense of this message, the drafting of which was attributed at
the time to M. Daunou, a former Oratorian monk. It set
forth that the pope had broken the Concordat, that, conse-
quently, this was abolished, and the assembly was called
upon to find a new mode of providing for the confirmation
of the bishops. This diatribe produced just the contrary
effect to that expected by the emperor ; that is to say, increased
interest for the calumniated and persecuted Sovereign-pontiff.
And at this same sitting, the majority decided to exclude from
the deliberations the nine bishops nominated by the emperor and
not confirmed by the pope, who, up to that time, had taken part
in the proceedings of the council. This was already a grievous
omen for the government.

On June 25, the council nominated a commission which was
called upon to propose an address to the emperor, in reply
to his message. This commission was composed of twelve
members, including the president. Cardinal Fesch ; Cardinals
Spina and Caselli ^ who had concluded, in the name of
Pius VII., the Concordat of 1801 ; the Archbishops of Bor-
deaux and of Tours ; and the Bishops of Comacchio, Ivrea,^

' Charles-Francois, Comte d'Aviau de Sanzay, bom in 1736, was at first grand-
vicar of the diocese of Angers. In 1789, he was nominated Archbishop of Vienna, but
refused the oath to the civil constitution and emigrated. In 1802, he became Arch-
bishop of Bordeaux, and died in 1826.

' Charles-Francois Caselli, bom in 1740, entered the order of the Servites, and
became its procurator-general. After the signing of the Concordat of 1801, he became
bishop in partibus and cardinal (1802), then Bishop of Parma in 1804. This city
having been annexed to the Empire, the cardinal came to Paris, where he lived until
1814. He returned to Parma in 1814, became privy councillor of the Empress
Marie Louise, who had become Duchess of Parma, and died in 1828.

* Joseph-Marie de Grimaldi, bom in 1754, Bishop of Pignerol in 1797, then of
Ivree in 1805. In 1817, he became Archbishop of Verceil. He belonged to the old
and powerful famUy of the Grimaldi, .who have long possessed the principahty of
Monaco.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HJS BROTHERS. 79.

Tournai,^ Troyes, Ghent, Nantes and Treves. On the 26th, they
discussed the project of the address ; its drafting had been en-
trusted to the Bishop of Nantes, and it was during this discussion
that he had, as I have already said, the awkwardness to let it
escape that the project had already been submitted to the em-
peror, which did not prevent the majority's voting against the
passage which found fault with the Bull of Excommunication.
On the morrow, the 27th, after the adoption of the amended
plan of the address, a bishop, I believe it was the one from
Chambdry,^ made the motion and in very touching terms, that
the council should go to Saint-Cloud and ask the emperor for
the release of the Holy Father. Cardinal Fesch hastened to
close the sitting in order to cut this motion short, without
which it would certainly have been carried by acclamation.

Napoleon, greatly displeased, refused to receive the address.

It was necessary, now, that, the commission of twelve should
report upon the proposition presented by the government, and
which consisted in finding a means of supplying the canonical
confirmation of bishops refused by the pope. The Bishop
of Nantes made a report on the work of the commission
of 1 8 10, on the subject of this question ; and M. de Barral,
Archbishop of Tours, gave an account of the journey of the three
bishops to Savona, and ended by reading the note drawn up in
the presence of the Holy Father and approved but not signed
by him.

This point was laid aside immediately and a member of the
commission moved that, first of all, they should decide the
question of the competency of the council. This proposition led
to a lively discussion, in which the Bishop of Ghent (M. de Broglie)
spoke with much heat against the competency of the council. The
question put was : Is the council competent to ordain another mode
of confirming bishops ? Eight votes were for the negative,' and
the bishops who had been sent to Savona for the affirmative.*
Cardinal Fesch did not vote.

' Francois-Joseph de Him, bom at Strasbourg in 1751, Bishop of Toumai in 1802.

^ Trenee Yves, Baron de Solles, bom at Auch in 1744, Bishop of Digne, April
29, 1802 ; Bishop of Chambery, May 30, 1805.

' The Cardinals Spina and Caselli, MM. de Broglie, d'Aviau, Him, de Boulogne,
de Grimaldi, and the Bishop of Comacchio.

* MM. de Barral, Duvoisin and Mannay.

•So THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Napoleon became furious when he learned this result ; he'
exclaimed that he would dismiss the council, that he had no
need of it, that he would himself make a decree which the whole
-world would obey, and which would contain the concessions
made at Savona. The Bishop of Nantes succeeded again this
time in calming him, and in bringing him to consent to a pro-
ject of decree being sent to the council, containing, in effect, the
Savona concessions, but to which should be added an article
thanking the pope for his concessions, and that the assembly-
should be asked to sanction this project by its vote.

The commission of twelve welcomed the project of decree,
but with one restriction, that before having the force of law, it
should be submitted to the pope for approbation, which was
implicitly declaring the incompetency of the council. On July
lO, the plan of the amended decree was communicated on the
same evening, Napoleon sent to Vincennes three members of the
-commission, the Bishop of Ghent, M. de Broglie ; the Bishop
of Troyes, M. de Boulogne ; and the bishop of Tournai, a German
whose name I have forgotten,^ and an imperial decree announced
that the council was dissolved.

This dissolution of the council pronounced ab zra/c', this violence
exercised against three of its members, solved nothing and even
created new embarrassments, for there was no longer any method
of sending to the pope a projected decree in the name of a
council which had been dissolved, and above all because it had
been so on account of its having sustained that it was necessary
that the project should be submitted to the Holy Father. That
which could h-ave been so well done before the council and
consequently without it, could no longer be done now.

Perplexed by the result of his passion, Napoleon was
obliged to retrace his steps ; he had to fall back upon the pitiful
means of reconstituting, so to speak, the council after having
dissolved it. The bishops who had not left Paris were collected
again, as well as those who had been retained there by force.
They were each called separately to the residence of the Minister
of Public Worship , and a written approbation obtained from
them of the plan of decree with a new article nevertheless, which

' M. Him.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 8i

Stated that the decree should be submitted to the pope, and that
the emperor would be begged to permit a deputation of six
bishops to go to His Holiness to pray him to confirm a decree
which alone could put an end to the misfortunes of the
Churches of France and of Italy.

This was a double inconsistency, since, on the one hand, they
submitted to the pope propositions to which he had already con-
sented, and on the other, they solicited his approbation when
the council had been dissolved for having demanded this appro-
bation.

The bishops, more despondent than irritated, signed separately
what was proposed to them, and, at a general sitting, August 15,
18 1 1, adopted by rising or remaining seated (a new mode of
voting suggested by a ruse of Cardinal Maury) the following
project :

Art I. — Conformably to the spirit of the canons, the arch-
bishoprics and bishoprics could not remain vacant more than a
year at the longest. In this space of time the nomination, con^
firmation, and consecration, must have taken place.

Art. 2. — The emperor will be begged to nominate for the
vacant sees, conformably to the Concordats, and those nominated
by the emperor will address themselves to the Holy Father for
canonical confirmation.

Art 3. — In the six months which will follow the notifica-
tion to the pope in the usual forms, of the aforesaid nomination,
the pope shall give the canonical confirmation, conformably to
the Concordats.

Art 4. — The six months expiring without the pope's
having accorded the confirmations, the archbishop, or, in default
of him, the oldest bishop of the ecclesiastic province, shall
proceed to the confirmation of the bishop nominated, and if it
be to confirm an archbishop, the oldest bishop of the province
shall confer the confirmation.

Art 5. — The present decree shall be submitted to the
approbation of our Holy Father, the pope, and to this effect, his
Majesty will be begged to permit a deputation of six bishops
to go to His Holiness to pray him to confirm a decree which
alone can put an end to the misfortunes of the Churches of
France and of Italy.

There was absolutely no difference in reality between what
was proposed at first by the council and this which was
VOL. II. G

82 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

adopted by the new assembly. Article S demanded the appro-
bation of the Holy Father, while in the primitive plan it was the
approbation of the emperor which was to be solicited. It is
true that this was very useless, since the plan was only the literal
expression of the personal demand of the emperor. Of what
use then to submit it to him ? But to substitute so literally one
expression for the other might have seemed offensive, if they
had submitted this substitution to him ; but I imagine the
assembly would not have dared to ask him, and that it must
have felt very happy when the decree arrived, invested with the
imperial approbation, for it was Napoleon, that is to say his
council, which proposed the drafting. His approbation was
included in the proposition made in his name to the council, in
his sending the deputation to the pope, and in the instructions
that he gave to this deputation. And as to the approbation to
be conferred by the pope according to the fifth article, and upon
which the council laid such great stress, the Bishop of Nantes
might easily persuade the emperor that the first plan which had
been so violently rejected by him, was in reality only a form,
by the aid of which they asked the pope if he recognized fully
his own work. There was no harm, he added, in according this
petty satisfaction to the council, whom he engaged himself to
convince that the imperial severity towards some of its members
did not proceed from their having wished to insert this article
in the decree, but rather from the hostile disposition they had
manifested against the government.

A few days after, on August 19, eighty-five bishops, among
whom, this time, were the nine unconfirmed, signed in common
a letter to the pope, in which they asked him to confirm the
decree. Then they named nine deputies to carry it to him to
Savona. These deputies were the Archbishops of Malines,^ of
Pavia and of Tours ; the Bishops of Evreux,^ Nantes, Treves,
Plaisance,3 Faenza and Feltre ; and in order that the pope could

' M. de Pradt. _ 2 M. Bourlier.

5 Etienne Andre Fallot de Beaumont, bom in 1750, took orders and became
Bishop of Vaison (Comtat Venaissin). He protested against the annexation of the
comtat to France, was deprived of his see at that time, and took refuge in Rome. In
l8oi he was appointed Bishop of Ghent, then Bishop of Plaisance (1S07), and Arch-
bishop of Bourges (1813). But he did not receive a bull of confirmation for the latter
see, and had to give it up in 1814. He lived in retirement ever after until his death.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 83

not complain that he was deprived of his council, they sent him
also five cardinals : MM. Doria,^ Dugnani,^ Roverella, de Bay-
anne,* and Ruffe,* the concurrence of whom I have every reason
to believe was secretly assured. Finally, they sent, at the same
time, the cameriere secreto of the pope, Bertazzoli, and his chaplain.
They arrived in Savona towards the end of the month of
August. The pope did not receive them till the 5 th of December
It was said that he did not welcome them as graciously as the first
deputation. He was ignorant of what had passed in the council ;
besides, he did not mention that name, for which he continually
substituted that of assembly ; which proves how easy it would
have been for the first deputation to have come to terms with the
pope on the essential point, that relative to the confirmation of
the bishops, without recurring to a council, for which the Holy
Father cared nothing. But it was because Napoleon did not
know what to do, and no one had the tact to persuade him. The
evil became irreparable, because the approbation of the decree
that they obtained from the pope, and which was to put an end
to this great quarrel, ended in nothing on account of the uncon-
querable temper of Napoleon who, on having almost concluded
all, sought to embroil everything, and found only too many
means of so doing.

^ Giovanni Pamphili Doria, issue of an old Genoese family of that name. Bom
in 1751, lie was archbishop at twenty, then nuncio at Paris, cardinal and Secretary of
State (1797). He became afterward camerlingo of the pontifical court.

2 Antoine Dugnani, bom in 1 748, took orders and became, in 1 785, Archbishop in
partibus of Rhodes. He was nuncio at Paris in 1789. On his return from Rome in
1792, he was created cardinal, and in 1800, contributed powerfully to the election of
Pius VII. His attachment for this pontiff caused his exile to Milan in 1808. He was
taken to France in the following year. He returned to Rome in 1814, was appointed
Bishop of Porto and of Santa Ruffina, and died in 1818.

^ Alphonse-Hubert de Lallier, Due de Bayanne, bom at Valence in 1739, was at
first auditor at rota at the Holy See. He was created cardinal in 1802. He returned
to France under the Empire, played rather an active part in the negotiations between
the pope and the emperor, and was appointed senator in 1813. He became peer of
France under the Restoration, and died in 1818.

* Fabrice-Denis Ruffo, bora in 1744 at Naples. Destined for an ecclesiastic
life, he never was more than a deacon. Pius VI. nominated him assessor-
general and treasurer of the pontifical chamber. On his return to Naples, he was
named by King Ferdinand intendant of the palace, and became his most trusted
counsellor. He was created cardinal in 1 794. In 1 798, he accompanied the king to
Sicily, was named by him vicar-general with unlimited powers. He aroused the
Calabrians and restored everywhere the royal authority. In 1805, Ruffo returned
to Rome, then went to France in 1809 ; he could not return to Italy until 1814. In
1821, he was appointed member of the Royal Council by the King of the Two
Sicilies, and died in 1827.

G 2

84 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

After a few very gentle explanations between the deputations
sent to Savona and the pope, explanations which did not bear
upon any real difficulty opposed by him, the Holy Father agreed
with a good grace to the five articles of the decree. He inserted
them literally in a brief, dated September 20, 1811, that he
addressed to the bishops with expressions full of paternal ten-
derness, and without the least retractation. He recalls, in the
preamble, with touching gratitude that God has permitted that,
with the consent of his very dear son Napoleon I., Emperor of
the French and King of Italy (these two titles are mentioned
there), that four bishops should come to visit him and to pray him

to provide for the Churches of France and Italy He speaks

of the affection with which he received them, and with real joy
of the manner in which they had reported his views and his
intentions. He announced that after a new authorization from
his very dear son Napoleon I five cardinals and the arch-
bishop, his chaplain, had returned to him, and that eight deputies
(for one died on the way ^) while informing him that a general
assembly of the clergy had been held at Paris, August 5, had
delivered to him a letter which related what had passed in this
assembly, and which was signed by a large number of cardinals,
archbishops, and bishops, and that finally they begged of him,
in suitable terms, to approve anew the five articles he had
previously approved.

The pope after having heard the five cardinals and his
cameriere the Archbishop of Edessa, confirmed all the acts they
presented to him. He added only in the brief that the arch-
bishop or the oldest bishop, when they should have to proceed
with the confirmation, should give the customary information,
exact the profession of faith, confirm in the name of the
Sovereign Pontiff, and that they should transmit to him the
authentic papers stating that these formalities had been faith-
fully accomplished. This addition was a perfectly simple
clause, it was even a consequence of the adoption of the articles,
and it does not appear that the emperor himself was offended
when he read it.

But it was no longer so, when he had knowledge of the

1 The Bishop of Feltre.

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 85

portions which contained the felicitations and praises that the
Holy Father addressed to the bishops for their conduct and
sentiments. On reading a phrase which testified that the
bishops had shown, as was proper, towards him and towards
the Roman Churck, which is the mother and the mistress of all the
other Churches, a true obedience — " aliarum omnium matri et
magistri veram obedientiam" Napoleon could control himself
no longer. The words mistress and obedience excited first his
laughter, then his fury, and he resolved to send back the brief
with scorn, exacting another wording. Divers rumours cir-
culated in Paris concerning his changeable disposition, growing
each day more hostile to the Holy Father. Finally, without any
public act, without even anything appearing in the Moniteur (at
least that I remember), it was spread about, after some little time,
that the negotiations with the pope were broken. The bishops
were not called together to be informed of this, but the news
was sent to them in their dioceses without telling them anything
except that all was broken off with the pope, and by his fault.

The brief, however, was returned. Napoleon little accus-
tomed to the language of the court of Rome, might find fault
with a few expressions and even demand their modification ; but
in spite of himself, of his violence and fury, the concessions de-
manded from the pope and so much desired for three years, were
accorded. The brief had even commenced to be executed in
Savona, for the pope had without difficulty confirmed the four
bishops nominated by the emperor, and the name of the
emperor was in the bulls as formerly, which was plainly a revo-
cation of the Bull of Excommunication. Finally the pope
accepted what they had been far from daring to hope, the
additional clause of the Concordat ; this was his brief, and the
emperor could then in future, when he wished, apply this clause,
by a decree or by a senatus-considtum, without having need to
recur to the pope. Why should he prefer to send back the
brief, to reject all that was useful from his point of view, on
account of a few expressions which were outside of the principal
part of the brief, and against which, in accepting it, he could
make all the reservations he desired .' I do not know ; he was
capable of every inconsistency.

86 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

The Bishop of Nantes, if he had been at Paris, might have
been able, I think, to reconcile him to the words mother and
mistress of all the Churches, and to that of obedience, by showing
them to him repeated several times in the famous discourse of
Bossuet, pronounced at the opening of the assembly of the
clergy in 1682 ; he might have added that these expressions
are reconcilable with the liberties of the Gallican Church, since
they merely signify that the pope has the right to speak, as
head, to all the Catholic Churches, as is admitted by the
Church of France, as well as by the others. But the Bishop of
Nantes was at Savona with the other deputies, where they were
all to await new orders.

The emperor sent back the brief ; the pope received it with
grief, and was obliged to look upon it as not having been sent.
However, with the sweet condescension which he is known to
have possessed, he was surely ready, when it was desired, to
maintain it, since he had given it unconditionally, and above all
since he had demanded nothing for himself

In reading the instructions given by Napoleon to the bishop-
deputies, before their departure for Savona, it is clearly seen
that it is not on account of a few expressions scattered through
the text of the brief, and which formed no part of its substance,
that the emperor rejected the entire brief, but that it is above
all because the pope spoke therein in his own name. (As if he
could do otherwise !)

These instructions, besides, were in themselves not concili-
ating ; they were of a revolting offensiveness, and revealed at
each word the evident desire to break the negotiation. Thus the
bishop-deputies were ordered to say to the pope that the
emperor had instructed them to declare to him that the Con-
cordats had ceased to be laws of the Empire and of the kingdom
of Italy, and that the pope had warranted him in taking this
measure by violating himself, for several years, some portions
of these treaties ; that in consequence France and Italy were
henceforth to be ruler by common law. The bishops were
charged besides to demand of His Holiness his approbation
pure and simple of the decree, and they were to exact that
this should include not only France and Italy but Holland,

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 87

Hamburg, Miinster, the Grand Duchy of Berg, Illyria, in fine,
all the countries now annexed or those which would hereafter
be annexed to the French Empire. They were to refuse this
approbation, if the pope made it depend upon any modification,
restriction or reservation whatever, except respecting the see of
Rome. They were to say to him, especially, that the emperor
'would accept no constitution or hull from, which it should result
that the pope had made over in his name what had been done by
the council. Finally they were only to speak to him in menaces.
It is probable that Napoleon, not finding in the brief the literal
execution of his instructions, sent it back to the deputies,
that the pope might have to conform to them ; that they
proposed, doubtless without menaces, but with respectful and
supplicating forms, while acquainting him with the manner in
which the brief had been received ; and that the Holy Father,
seeing plainly that there was no possibility of satisfying the
emperor by the only means at his disposition, refused in his turn
that which was so harshly and arbitrarily exacted of him.

I forgot to say that it was observed that, in the brief, the
word council was not employed, but only that of assembly of
bishops. That ought to have been a matter of indifference to
Napoleon : the bishops alone might have felt wounded, and
they were far from complaining. The emperor, who had treated
this council so lightly, who had dissolved it with so much
scorn, who had repented each time it was mentioned to him,
that he had convened it, should have had very little jealousy
as to its title, above all, when the pope gave it one so perfectly
equivalent. His quarrelsome humour however impelled him to
draw from this omission of the word council a new subject of
attack upon the Holy Father, that he repeated often in his
conversation, although this was not assuredly, the principal
motive of his refusal and of his anger.

The bishops who were at Savona remained there still a long
time in spite of themselves. They did not return to Paris until
the beginning of the spring of 1812. The emperor wished he
said, to punish them for their want of judgment. He did not
even call the council together at Paris to inform them of what
had taken place at Savona ; he had had them told on October 2,

88 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

l8il, by the Minister of Police, that they were to re-enter
their dioceses, and they returned there. Nothing was published
regarding the negotiation, the council, nor the brief. Each one
drew from this imbroglio his own conclusion ; and thought of
other things.

The rigorous treatment to which the Holy Father was sub-
jected at Savona was continued during the winter of 1811 —
1 812, and in the following spring. At this time, it seems there
was some fear, on the appearance of an English squadron, that
it might carry off the pope ; and the emperor gave the order to
transfer him to Fontainebleau. This unhappy old man left
Savona, June 10, and was forced to travel day and night. He
fell quite ill at the hospice of Mont Cenis ; but they forced him
none the less to continue his journey. They had compelled
him to wear such clothes, so as not to betray who he was on
the way they had to follow. They took great care also to
conceal his journey from the public, and the secret was so
profoundly kept, that on arriving at Fontainebleau, June 19,
the concierge who had not been advised of his arrival, and who
had made no preparation, was obliged to receive him in his own
lodgings. The Holy Father was a long time before recovering
from the fatigue of this painful journey, and from the needlessly
rigorous treatment to which they had subjected him.

The cardinals not disgraced by Napoleon, who were in Paris,
as well as the Archbishop of Tours, the Bishop of Nantes, the
Bishop of Evreux, and the Bishop of Treves, were ordered to
go and see the pope. It was said that the latter expressed the
wish that Cardinal Maury should abstain from visiting him quite
so often. The report was spread that the pope would be brought
to Paris, and they made great preparations to receive him at
the archiepiscopal palace, to which, nevertheless he never came.

The Russian campaign, marked by so many disasters, was
getting to a close. The emperor on his return to Paris, December
18, 18 12, still cherished chimerical hopes, and was meditating
without doubt, more gigantic projects. Before carrying them out,
he wished to take up again the affairs of the Church, either
because he repented not having finished with them at Savona,
or because he had the fancy to prove that he could do more

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 89

in a two hours' tete-d-tete with the pope, than had been
done by the council, its commissions, and its most able nego-
tiators. He had beforehand, however, taken measures which
■were to facilitate his personal negotiation. The Holy Father
had been surrounded for several months by cardinals and
prelates, who, either from conviction or from submission to
the emperor, depicted the Church as having arrived at a state
of anarchy which put its existence in peril. They repeated
incessantly to the pope, that if he did not get reconciled
with the emperor and secure the aid of his power to arrest the
evil, schism would be inevitable. Finally, the Sovereign pontiff
overwhelmed by age, by infirmities, by the anxiety and cares
with which his mind was worried, found himself well prepared
for the scene Napoleon had planned to play, and which was to
assure him what he believed to be a success.

On January 19, 181 3, the emperor accompanied by the
Empress Marie Louise, entered the apartment of the Holy
Father unexpectedly, rushed to him and embraced him with
effusion. Pius VH., surprised and affected, allowed himself to
be induced, after a few explanations, to give his approbation to
the propositions that were imposed, rather than submitted to
him. They were drawn up in eleven articles, which were not
yet a compact, but which were to serve as the basis of a
new act. On January 24, the emperor and the pope affixed
their signatures to this strange paper, which was lacking in the
usual diplomatic forms, since they were two sovereigns who
had treated directly together.

It was said in these articles, that the pope would exercise the
pontificate in France, and in Italy; — that his ambassadors and
those in authority near him, should enjoy all diplomatic
privileges : — that such of his domains which were not disposed of
should be free from taxes, and that those which were transferred
should be replaced by an income of two millions of francs ; —
that the pope should nominate, whether in France or in Italy,
to episcopal sees which should be subsequently fixed ; that the
suburban sees should be re-established, and depend on the nomina-
tion of the pope, and that the unsold lands of these sees should
be restored : that the pope should give bishoprics in partibus to

90 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

the Roman bishops absent from their diocese by force of cir-
cumstances, and that he should serve them a pension equal
to their former revenue, until such time as they should be
appointed to vacant sees ; that the emperor and the pope should
agree in opportune time as to the reduction to be made if it
took place, in the bishoprics of Tuscany and of the country about
Geneva, as well as to the institution of bishoprics in Holland,
and in the Hanseatic departments ; that the propaganda, the
confessional, and the archives should be established in the
place of sojourn of the Holy Father ; finally, that His Imperial
Majesty bestowed his good graces upon the cardinals, bishops,
priests, and laymen, who had incurred his displeasure in con-
nection with actual events. The principal article consented to
by the Holy Father at Savona, naturally figured here also, and
it was drawn up anew in the following terms : In tJte six months
which sJiall follow the usual notification of the nomination by the
emperor to the archbishoprics, and bishoprics of tlu Empire and of
the kingdom of Italy, the pope shall give canonical confirmation
conformably to the Concordats and in virtue of the present indult.
The preliminary information shall be given by the archbishop. The
six months having expired without the pope's having accorded the
confirmation, the archbishop, and in default of him, or when
concerning tlie confirmation of an archbishop, the oldest bishop
of the province shall proceed to confirm the nominated bishop,
so that a see may never be vacant more than a year. — Such was
Article IV.

In a final article, the Holy Father declared that he had been
induced to make the above dispositions by consideration for the
actual state of the Church, and in the confident belief with
which His Majesty had inspired him, that he would accord his
powerful protection for facing the numerous needs of religion
at the present time.

The news of the signing of the treaty occasioned great joy
among the people, but it appears that that of the pope was of
short duration. The sacrifices he had been led to make were
hardly consummated, than he experienced bitter grief ; this
could but be increased in proportion as the exiled and imprisoned
cardinals, Consalvi, Pacca, di Pietro, on obtaining their liberty,

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 91

received also the authorization to repair to Fontaineblean. What
passed then between the Holy Father and these cardinals I do
not pretend to know ; but it must be that Napoleon had been
warned by some symptoms of what was about to happen ; for, in
spite of the agreement he had made with the pope to consider
the eleven articles only as preliminaries which were not to be
published,-^ he decided nevertheless to make them the object of a
message that the arch chancellor was charged to submit to
the senate.

This premature publicity given to an act which the pope so
strongly regretted having signed must have hastened his retrac-
tation which he addressed to the emperor by a brief, on March 24,
1 8 14. I do not know upon what considerations the Holy Father
founded this retractation ; but one can but deplore the weakness
which directed his conduct in this circumstance, and which, after
so short an interval, made him consent to retract. The best
explanation that can be given of this conduct is, that by
physical and moral enfeebling, his spirit bent before the exac-
tions of Napoleon, and only regained its strength when he found
himself surrounded by his faithful counsellors. One may regret,
but can one believe himself warranted in blaming .■■

This time, the emperor, although greatly irritated by the
retractation, believed it was to his interest not to make any noise
about it, and decided to take outwardly no notice of it. He had
two decrees published : one of February 1 3, and the other of
March 25, 1813. By the first, the new Concordat of January 25
was declared state law ; by the second, he declared it obligatory
upon archbishops, bishops, and chapters, and ordered, according
to Article IV. of this Concordat that the archbishops should
confirm the nominated bishops, and in case of refusal, ordained
that they should be summoned before the tribunals.

He restricted anew the liberty that had been given momen-
tarily to the Holy Father, and Cardinal di Pietro returned to exile.
Thereupon, Napoleon started, soon after, for that campaign

1 Indeed, the preamble of this compact ran as follows : " H.M. the Emperor and
King and His Holiness, wishing to terminate the differences which arose between
them and remedy consequent difficulties touching the affairs of the Church, agreed
upon the following articles, as being likely to furnish a basis for a definite arrange-
ment."

92 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

of 1813 in Germany, the prelude to that which was to lead to
his downfall.

The decrees issued ab irato were not executed, and during
the vicissitudes of the campaign of 1 81 3, the imperial govern-
ment attempted several times to renew with the pope negotiations
which failed, Matters dragged along thus, and no one could
foresee any issue when, on January 23, 18 14, it ^vas suddenly
learned that the pope had left Fontainebleau that very day,
and returned to Rome.

Napoleon was then hotly pressed by the allied troops who
had penetrated into France ; but as he counted so confidently
on success, it was difficult to comprehend so unexpected and
precipitate a resolution. It can be explained, however. Murat,
who had abandoned the cause of the emperor, and who, as we
have already said, had treated with the coalition, was then
occupying the States of the Church, and it is evident that
Napoleon in his indignation against Murat, preferred to allow
the pope to re-enter his States, to seeing them in the hands of
his brother-in-law.

While Pius VII. was en route and the emperor was fighting
in Champagne, a decree of March 10, 1814, announced that the
pope was taking possession again of the part of his States
which formed the departments of Rome and Trasmania. The
lion, although vanquished, would not yet let go all the prey
he hoped surely to retake.

The journey of the Holy Father was not made without hind-
rances and difficulties, so much so that the provisory govern-
ment, over which I had the honour to preside, was obliged to give
orders, April 2, 18 14, to facilitate the progress of the Sovereign
Pontiff, and render to him all the honours he was entitled to.

It must be said that the viceroy of Italy, Eugene, greeted
the pope with respect, and that Murat himself dared not oppose
his taking possession of his States, although he was occupying
them himself with his troops.

The pope arrived on April 30, at Cesena, on May 12, at
Ancona, and made his solemn entry into Rome on May 24,
18 14.

In dwelling as long as I have done on the negotiations

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 93

between the emperor and the pope, I had a double purpose ; I
desired to show how far Napoleon could be carried by passion,
even when he encountered before him resistance on the side of
right, and to prove that, in the question treated here, he was
equally wrong in the main and in form ; which it will be easy
for me, I believe, to demonstrate. I have nothing more to add, it
seems to me, to prove how odious was all his conduct towards
the pope, from the year 1806 ; the facts that I have just exposed
with impartiality and with as much coolness as it has been
possible for me to employ in relating such unworthy persecu-
tions, these facts speak for themselves ; I should risk enfeebling
them by insisting. But I care still more, perhaps, to cause to
stand out, the enormous faults from a general political point of
view, which were committed by the emperor in his relations
with the court of Rome.

When in 1801, Napoleon re-established religion in France,
he performed not only an act of justice, but also an act of
cleverness ; for he immediately secured, by this single deed,
the sympathies of the Catholics of the entire world ; and by
the compact with Pius VII. he had re-established on a solid
foundation Catholic power which had been shaken for a
moment by the French Revolution, and in the development of
which every sensible government of France ought to aid, were
it only for the annihilation of Protestantism and the Greek
Church. For, what are the principal forces of Catholicism, as
of all power, if they are not unity and independence 1 And
these were precisely the two forces Napoleon wished to sap and
to destroy, on the day when, urged by the most insensate
ambition, he entered upon a struggle with the court of Rome.
He attacked the unity of the Catholic Church in wishing to
deprive the pope of the right of confirming the bishops ; its
independence in withdrawing from the Holy See its temporal

power.

The confirmation of the bishops by the pope is the only

real tie which unites all the CathoHc Churches of the world

with that of Rome. It is that which maintains the uniformity

of the doctrines and rules of the Church, in not allowing any to

attain the episcopate who are not recognized as capable by the

94 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

Sovereign Pontiff of sustaining and defending them. Suppose
for a moment that this tie were broken, you fall into schism.
Napoleon was so much more guilty in this respect, that he had
been enlightened by the errors of the constituent assembly. I
do not hesitate to acknowledge here, whatever share I may
have taken in this work, that the civil constitution of the clergy,
decreed by the constituent assembly, was perhaps the greatest
political error of that assembly, independent of the frightful
crimes which were its consequence. It was inexcusable after
such an example, to fall into the same error and to recommence
against Pius VII., the persecutions of the Convention and of
the Directory against Pius VI., which had been so severely
and so justly blamed by Napoleon himself There is no
possible excuse, therefore, for his conduct in this matter. It
would be vainly objected to me that there have existed
turbulent popes, who abused the confirmation of the bishop and
turned it into a weapon even against Catholic governments.
I would reply to that, that it is exact, but that these govern-
ments extricated themselves from these difficulties, and that
the same could be done if a similar case happened again,
and that it is a bad policy to prevent a possible abuse by
creating a real danger. Let us add that Napoleon was less
justifiable than any other in acting as he did, after having met
in Pius VII. the most unhoped-for facilities for regulating the
affairs of the Church, and a gentleness and meekness which
never belied themselves for an instant, in spite of the most
odious proceedings ; for the Bull of Excommunication is an
incident which had no bearing whatever. And how guilty
must Napoleon have been on this occasion, in order that he, who
so boasted of creating enemies everywhere for England, even as
Mithridates formerly did for the Romans, should have come to
make of the pope an ally of the English, and should have
experienced some fear that they might carry off his victim from
Savona .''

The destruction of the temporal power of the pope by the
absorption of the Roman States into the Grand Empire was,
politically speaking, a fault no less serious. It is obvious to all
that the head of a religion as universally spread over the globe

NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE— HIS BROTHERS. 95

as is the Catholic religion, has need of the most perfect in-
dependence in order to exercise impartially, its power and
influence. In the actual state of the world, in the midst of the
territorial divisions created by time, and of political com-
plications resulting from civilization, this independence can only
exist if guaranteed by a temporal sovereignty. It would be as
absurd to wish to return to the times of the primitive Church, when
the pope was only the Bishop of Rome, because Christianity was
included within the Roman Empire, as it was insensate in Napo-
leon to pretend to make a French bishop of the Holy Father.
What then would have become of Catholicism in all the countries
which were not a part of the French Empire .' What would
France think if the pope were in the hands of Austria or of
any other Catholic power ? Would it believe it impartial, or
independent .? However deluded Napoleon may have been as
regards the extent and duration of his power, his person or
that of his successors, he ought not to have created so dangerous
a precedent, which might, some day, have been fatal to France.
1 8 14 has proved that nothing of this kind was impossible.

I stop. I have said enough to show all the evil the insatiable
ambition of the emperor prepared for France in the future.
But, perhaps there will be said to me by the Revolutionists of
the school of the year 1800, why, then, have re-established
religion, and the papacy } It is Napoleon himself who replied
to them beforehand by making the Concordat of 1801 ; but
this is the truly great Napoleon, enlightened and guided by
his splendid genius, and not ruled by the furious passions which
stifled him later.

END OF THE SIXTH PART.

PART VII.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION.

1813 — 1814.

The political faults of Napoleon— What might have been a masterpiece of
policy — No chance for the House of Bourbon — Why Louis XVIII.
ascended the throne — Why Napoleon is the first and only man who
could have given Europe her true equilibrium — The cause of his ruin —
Talleyrand's apology for having left Napoleon's service — Rejects the
imputation of having conspired against the Emperor — General Savary
and Talleyrand — Napoleon wants Talleyrand to resume office — "Ah /
si Talleyrand etait Id.'" — La Besnardifere and Napoleon — Wrath of the
latter against Murat — Napoleon alone plotted against himself — His
obstinacy at the Congress of Chatillon — Lord Wellington — Abbd Yuda
— The Colossus has feet of clay — Lord Wellington's plan — The Due
d'Angouleme and the Duke of Wellington — Sir Henry Bunbury — The
Marquis de la Rochejacquelein — Wellington refuses to support a Bourbon
rising — Battle of Orthez — Wellington yields — Viscount Beresford — M.
Lynch and the Bourbons — Lord Bathurst's letter to the Duke of Welling-
ton— Battle of Toulouse — Correct attitude of Wellington — Colonels
Frederick Ponsonby and H. Cook — The abdication of the Emperor —
Charge brought against the Provisory Government — The English
Government and Napoleon — Louis XVIII. and the Prince Regent of
England — Baron de VitroUes at the headquarters of the allied sove-
reigns— Talleyrand and the Baron de Vitrolles — Interview between the
latter and Count von Stadion — Prince Metternich and Baron de Vitrolles
— Interview between the latter and the Czar Alexander and the Emperor
of Austria — Napoleon's movements — Saint-Dizier — Marshal Macdonald's
error — General Wintzingerode — Napoleon's suspicions — Hastens on the
rear of the allies — Troyes, Fromenteau and Fontainebleau — The
allies were bent on treating with Napoleon — Why they did not — The
views of the allies on France — The position of the House of Bourbon
— A constitutional Monarchy — Contrast between Spain and France —
The security of France under Napoleon — The great need of Europe —
The legitimacy of governments — Why Talleyrand supported the claims
of the Bourbons — Napoleon's opinion of the Bourbons — Capitulation of
Paris — The Czar and the King of Prussia in Paris — March past of the

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 97

■allied troops in the Champs Elysdes — Talleyrand and the Czar Alexander
— Negotiations relative to the recall of the Bourbons — The Czar Alex-
ander amazed — The return of Louis XVIII. voted by former regicides
— M. de Caulaincourt and Talleyrand — Declaration of the allies to
Napoleon — The Provisory Government — Entrance of the Comte d'Artois
to Paris — Interview between Talleyrand and Louis XVIII. at Compifegne
The Saint-Ouen proclamation — Return of Louis XVIII. to Paris — The
Charter — Talleyrand appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs — The situa- ~___ ) ^>t»
tion of France compared with Europe, on the morrow of Napoleon's fall —
The conventions between the Comte d'Artois and the allies — Treaty of
peace between Louis XVIII. and the allies — Additional Articles —
Separate and secret Articles to the treaty of Paris — Decision relative to
the assembling of a Congress at Vienna — Talleyrand's letter to the
Czar Alexander — Instructions of Louis XVIII. to the French plenipo-
tentiaries to the Congress of Vienna — Various considerations on the
condition of Europe and the respective situations imposed by Napoleon
on its different States — How these are to be remedied by the Congress
of Vienna. —

The attention of my readers must now direct itself to the
time of the reign of Napoleon where I mentioned that by a
clever move in Spain he would have been able to arrive at a
general peace, and thus to firmly establish his own rule.

Napoleon had been raised to supreme power by the
concourse of united wills against anarchy. The fame of his
victories had caused him to be chosen ; it was his sole claim ;
defeat revoked it as much as a glorious peace would have
justified and affirmed it. But, dupe to his imagination that
overruled his judgment, he said emphatically, that he must
raise about France a rampart of thrones occupied by the mem-
bers of his family to replace that line of fortresses created
previously by Louis XIV. He found among his ministers
and among his courtiers, men to approve that extravagance ;
and the greater portion of these men were former members of
the Convention and of the Council of elders. But the good sense
of the masses of France, confined itself to desiring the conserv-
ation of the real and useful results of the Revolution, that is to
say, the maintenance of those civil liberties, the forms of which
the emperor had scarcely let subsist, by ever placing his
despotic power above the law.

His success had so blinded him that he did not see that
by pushing to extremes the political system he had foolishly
VOL. II. H

98 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

embraced, as much at home as abroad, he would tire the French
as well as other nations, and compel them all to seek, outside
of himself, guarantees for a general peace, and, for the French,
the enjoyment of their civil rights.

In his enterprise against Spain, everything was unreasonable.
Why ruin a country that was attached and devoted to him ?
In order to seize a portion of it, while he left its rich colonies
to the mercy of England whom he intended to destroy or at
least to weaken everywhere. Was it not evident that if all the
provinces of the Peninsula were forced to bend under the yoke of
France and to submit to the royalty of his brother, the Spanish
colonies would rise in rebellion on their own impulse or on that
of England .■■ A master stroke of policy at that time would
have been to isolate Great Britain so as to leave her without a
link of any description with the Continent, and without fresh
intercourse with the colonies. Napoleon, on the contrary, by the
war in Spain, threw open to England the Continent of Europe
and the American colonies.

When remembering what struck me most among my recol-
lections of the twenty years of which I have just spoken
I often asked myself what would have happened if the emperor
at such or such a time in his career had paused, had changed
his system, and had only had in view to strengthen his position.
Thus, for example, after the peace of Luneville, after having
signed his first treaty with Russia, concluded the peace of
Amiens with England and all the powers of Europe, to
recognize the recess of the empire was not everything easy
for him .? France had then acquired limits to which Europe
had been obliged to consent ; internal opposition had vanished,
religion had resumed its proper place in the state. That situation
evidently left no longer any prospect to the house of Bourbon.

If that same idea sometimes occurs to Louis XVIII.
what gratitude ought he not to feel towards Providence, and
what attention should he not direct to the happiness and pros-
perity of France. Let him think a moment of all that has been
necessary since 1803, in order to prepare his return.^

^ It may be as well to note here that this portion of Prince Talleyrand's Memoirs.
was written during the Restoration, and previous to the death of Louis XVIII.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 99

It was necessary that all sorts of delusions took possession

at the same time of Napoleon's mind ; that he should engage

recklessly in the most hazardous expeditions ; that, by caprice,

he should raise thrones, and, by other caprices, deprive those

thrones from all chance of stability and make enemies even of

those he had placed on them. It was necessary that in order

to destroy the confidence of France and of foreign nations, he

should impose upon them institutions, at first republican, then

monarchical, and, that he should end by submitting them all

to his despotic sway. It was necessary, finally, that he should

furnish peoples who, as a rule, very soon understand each other,

the sad consolation of successively despising the different forms

of government that passed under their eyes, and that he should

fail to see that that contempt was to generate in peoples a

general disposition for rebellion, and, soon after, for vengeance.

But if passing from the date of 1803, we direct our attention
to the year 1807, when the emperor had vanquished one after
the other, Austria, Prussia and Russia, and held in his hands
the destiny of Europe, what a grand and noble part should he
not have been able to play?

Napoleon is the first and only man, who could have given
to Europe the real equilibrium for which she has been searching
in vain for several centuries and from which she is to-day
farther off than ever.

It was necessary for that 1st, to appeal to the unity of Italy
in transferring to her the house of Bavaria ; 2nd, to divide Germany
among the house of Austria, that would have extended to the
mouth of the Danube, and the house of Brandenburg,^ that
would have been enlarged, and 3rd, to resuscitate Poland by
giving her to the house of Saxony.

With a real equilibrium, Napoleon would have been able
to give to the peoples of Europe an organization consonant
with true moral law. A real equilibrium would have rendered
war well nigh impossible. A suitable organization would have
carried to every household the highest degree of civilization
which could possibly be attained.

1 The house of Hohenzollem-Brandenburg, which occupies the throne of
Prussia.

H 2

loo THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Napoleon was able to do all this, and he did not do it. If he
had done so, gratitude would have raised everywhere statues
for him, and his death would have been mourned in every
heart. Instead of that, he has brought about the state of things
which we see, and paved the way for the dangers that threaten
Europe from the East. It is on these results that he should
be, and shall be judged. Posterity will say of him " That
man was endowed with a very great intellectual force ; but he
has not understood veritable glory. His moral force was very
small or even null. He was not able to enjoy prosperity with
moderation, nor to bear misfortune with dignity, and it is
because he lacked moral force, that he caused the ruin of Europe
and of himself"

Placed for so many years in the very midst of his pro-
jects and so to say in the very crater of his policy, a witness
to all that he did or that was done against him, there was not
much credit in foreseeing that all the countries recently placed
under his rule, all the kingdoms newly created for the benefit of
his family, would be the first ones to deal a blow to his power
Not without bitter grief, I confess, did I witness such a sight.
I was fond of Napoleon ; I was attached to his person, not-
withstanding his faults — when he first appeared on t-he scene of
the world, I felt attracted towards Jiim by the irresistible spell
inherent to great genius. I was sincerely grateful to him for
the favours he had bestowed on me. Besides, why should I fear
to say it .-' I had shared in his glory, which reflected upon all
those who assisted him in his noble work. Thus I can boast
of having served him with -devotion and, as far as I was able,
with enlightened devotion. In the days when he still listened to
the truth, loyally I told it to him ; I told it to him even later
when it was necessary to be cautious in letting him know it ;
and the disfavour that my candour caused me, justified me in
my conscience, in first separating from his policy, then from his
person, when he had reached the point of placing in peril the
destiny of my country.

When Napoleon, casting aside every reasonable transaction,
threw himself in 1812, into the fatal Russian expedition, any
well-balanced mind could almost fix the date, when, followed

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE—THE RESTORATION. loi

up by those powers he had humiliated, and forced to cross
again the Rhine, he would lose the prestige with which fortune
had hitherto surrounded him. Napoleon vanquished, was doomed
to disappear from the world's stage ; that is the destiny of
vanquished usurpers. But France once invaded, what odds
there would be against her ! What means could thwart the
evils which threatened her .' What form of government should
she adopt, if she resisted such a catastrophe } Those were
serious subjects of meditation for all good Frenchmen. To con-
sider them was a duty for those whom circumstances, or, if
one prefers, their ambition had already called, at other times,
to exercise an influence on the future of their country. It
is what for several years I believed I had the right to do ;
and according as I saw the dreadful issue approaching, I ex-
amined and combined with more care and attention, the
resources that would remain to us. It was neither to betray
nor to conspire against Napoleon, though he had more than
once charged me with doing so. I have never conspired in my
life, except at those times when I had the majority of France for
an accomplice and when I sought with her, the salvation of the
country. Napoleon's mistrusts of and insults to me cannot
change the truth of the facts, and I proclaim it loudly, he
never had a dangerous conspirator against him, but himself •
He, nevertheless, had the most rigid watch kept over me during
the last years of his reign. I could almost cite that constant
watch as a witness of the impossibility in which I should
have found myself to conspire had I been so inclined.

I shall perhaps be excused for recalling an incident of that
supervision, that comes to my mind, and that will show how
the emperor's police construed the most insignificant events
of private life. One evening in the month of February,
1814, I had some guests in my drawing-room, among whom
were the Baron Louis, the Archbishop Malines, M. de Pradt,
M. de Dalberg and many others. We were speaking of every
subject, but particularly of the serious events of the present^
which, naturally, engrossed all minds. The door opened with
a great bustle, and without giving time to the footman to
announce him. General Savary, minister of the general police,

I02 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

rushed into the middle of the drawing room exclaiming :
" Ah ! I find you all in the very act of conspiring against the
government ! " Notwithstanding the serious tone of his ex-
clamation, we saw at once that his intention was to joke, though
trying at the same time to discover, if possible, indications
likely to supply him with a police-report to Napoleon. He did
not succeed, however, in disconcerting us, and the state of things
justified only too well the anxiety which each one expressed on
the perilous situation of the emperor and on the consequences
that might result from it. I should be sufificiently inclined to
believe, that but for the fall of Napoleon, General Savary would
not have failed to turn to account for his own advancement
the boldness, and what he believed to be the cleverness, with
which he acted on that occasion. It is decidedly a villanous
calling, that of Minister of Police.

What was most peculiar in the conduct of Napoleon to-
wards me, even at the time when he suspected me most, was,
that he was always seeking to reconcile me to him. Thus
in the month of December, 1813, he asked me to accept again
the portfolio of foreign affairs, which I plainly refused, under-
standing thoroughly that we could never agree on the sole
manner of extricating himself from the maze in which his
folly had driven him. Some weeks later, in the month of
January, 1 8 14, before his departure for the army, and when M.
de Caulaincourt had already gone to the Congress of Chatillon,i
the emperor worked nearly every evening with M. de la
Besnardi^re,^ who, in the absence of M. de Caulaincourt, held
the porfolio of foreign affairs. In these conversations that were
prolonged far into the night, he grew strangely confidential.
For example, he repeated several times, after having read the

^ As early as the month of November, 181 3, the negotiations had begun. The
allies then offered the frontiers of the Alps and of the Rhine. Napoleon consented
to the assembling of a congress at Manheim. But events rushed forth and the con-
gress only met on the 7th of February at Chatillon-sur-Seine. M. de Caulaincourt,
Minister of Foreign Affairs, represented the emperor. This time, the allies offered
only the limits of 1789. Congress separated March 19, without having accomplished
anything.

^ Jean-Baptiste de Gouey, Comte de la Besnardiere, born in 1765, entered in the
congregation of Oratorians under the old rigime. In 1796, he entered the ministry of
Foreign Affairs as a simple clerk. He became in 1807, director of the first political
section, and discharged those important functions until 1814. He became councillor
of state in 1826, retired from public affairs in 1830, and died in 1843.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 103

despatches in which the Due de Vicence gave an account of the
progress of the negotiations at Ch&tillon, " Ah ! if Talleyrand
were here he would help me out of difficulty." He was mis-
taken, for I could only have been able to help him out of it,
by taking upon myself, which I should probably have done,
to accept the conditions of the enemy ; and if that day, he had
had the slightest military success, he would have disowned my
signature. M. de la Besnardi^re related to me also another
scene at which he was present, and which is too characteristic
not to mention it. Murat, to remain faithful to his brother-
in-law's cause, demanded that Italy should be given up to
him, as far as the right bank of the Po. He had written
several letters to Napoleon, who did not reply, of which he
bitterly complained, as being a proof of contempt. " Why,''
said Besnardi^re to the emperor, "does your Majesty leave
him this pretext, and what inconvenience would you find, in
according him not exactly what he wishes, but in holding
out some hope to him .' " Napoleon answered then, " Can I
reply to an insane man .'' Why does he not feel that my
extreme preponderance alone prevented the pope from being in
Rome "i It is to the interest of all the powers that he should
return there, and now that interest is also mine. Murat is a
man who is ruining himself; I shall be obliged to do him a
charity, but I shall shut him up in a good dungeon finally, in
order that so black an ingratitude may not remain unpunished."
How could one so well realize the follies of others and fail to
grasp one's own ?

I said above, that Napoleon alone had conspired against
himself, and I can support the perfect exactitude of that
fact, for it is true, that until the last minute which preceded
his ruin, it depended only upon him to save himself Not
only, as I have already said, he could in 1812, by a general
peace, consolidate for ever his power, but in 1 8 1 3 at Prague,^ he
could have obtained conditions if not as brilliant as in 18 12,

' After the victories of Lutzen, of Bautzen, and of Wurtschen, Napoleon trium-
phant had consented to an armistice that was signed at Pleiswitz on the 5th of June.
Austria interposed as mediator, and a congress was opened at Prague on the 12th of
July. Napoleon would cede nothing. The negotiations were broken on the lOth
of August, and Austria joined into coalition.

IO+ THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

at least still advantageous, and finally even at the congress:
of Chatillon, in 1814, if he had ceded when needed, he could
have arranged a peace beneficial to France driven to bay,
and which, even in the interest of his reckless ambition,
would have offered him opportunities for recovering later
some glory ; the terror he had inspired in all the cabinets has
maintained them until the last moment in their resolution to
treat with him. This claims certain developments, and I will
consign here some facts which are perfectly known to me, and
which will prove the exactitude of what I advance. We
must first transport ourselves to the frontier of the Pyrenees
where the French army had sustained so bravely an unequal
struggle against the English, Spanish and Portuguese troops
united. We shall return afterwards to the plains of Champagne.

S. Sebastian had been taken at the end of August, 181 3,
and Pampeluna had just surrendered towards the end of
October, when the Duke of Wellington, who saw Spain
ridden on that side from her enemies, and was informed of
the battle of Leipzig and of the important results that fol-
lowed it, decided to carry war into French territory, in order
to contribute as much as possible to the success of the general
cause of Europe ; that of Spain was only secondary. He crossed
the Bidassoa towards the middle of November, notwithstanding
the sharp resistance of the French army commanded by Marshal
Soult, and established his head-quarters on the first day at
Saint P^, a little village on the frontier.

The weather was fearful ; the rain fell in torrents, which forced
the Anglo-Portuguese army to halt and its head-quarters to
remain at St. P^. It so happened that there was in the
village a cur^, full of intelligence and activity, and who was
in every way devoted to the Bourbons and to the royal cause.
He had emigrated into Spain at the beginning of the Revolu-
tion, and he returned to France only after the Concordat. His
name was Abbe Juda ; he was very popular among the Basques>
and much esteemed among the Spaniards, and as the bad
weather did not permit the Duke of Wellington to go out^
weariness and leisure caused him to seek the society of the
cur^, at whose house he was residing.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 105-

The conversation naturally turned on the state of France'
and on the spirit that reigned there. The cur^ did not hesitate
to affirm that they were tired of the war to which they could
see no termination, that they were especially very much annoyed
at the conscription, and that people complained very much of the
increasing burden of the taxes ; finally, that they desired a change,
whatever it might be, just as an invalid desires to change his
position in bed, with the hope of obtaining relief. " The colossus
has feet of clay," said the Abb6 Juda. " Attack it vigorously
with resolution and you will see it fall to pieces more easily
than you think."

Those conversations convinced the Duke of Wellington of
the necessity of attacking simultaneously France by all her
frontiers, if it were wished to obtain from the head of the
government a durable and honourable peace, and he suggested
that plan to his government.

There was no question of the Bourbons, for it was easily
seen that they were forgotten and entirely unknown to the new
generation. However, it was thought advisable to make a trial
of the effect that would be produced by the sudden appearance
of one of those princes on any portion whatever of French
territory, and to ascertain what would be the result. That was
the pretext for the arrival of the Due d'Angouleme at the
head-quarters of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, about the beginning of
January, 18 14.

The Due d'Angouleme ^ was very well received by the
general-in-chief, which was quite natural ; by the mayor of the
village of Saint Jean, and by the clergy ; but his presence
took no effect upon the people, except that of curiosity. They
ran in his path when he went to church, without testifying any
special sentiment, nor giving any proof of approbation or dis-
approbation. If there were any offers of service, or protestations
of fidelity they remained quite secret and had not the least
outward effect.

Time was thus expected to bring the only solution to the

1 Louis-Antoine de Bourbon, Due d'AngoulSme, eldest son of the Comte
d'Artois (1775-1844). He had married in 1799 the Princess Marie- Therese,
daughter of Louis XVI.

Io6 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

situation, when towards the middle of January, Sir Henry
Bunbury ^ coming from London, landed at Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
He was Under Secretary to the War Office and, besides other
important messages, was instructed to inform the Duke of
Wellington of the acceptance by England of the basis proposed
at Frankfort by the allied sovereigns to settle the general
peace, and of the necessity of taking every precaution to prevent
that, under English protection, the people should be incited to
rebellion against the government with which they were negotiat-
ing. The English government, in accordance with very honour-
able principles, did not wish to countenance an uprising of
people, whom at the conclusion of the peace, they would have
been obliged to leave unprotected to the resentment of Napoleon's
government, and they insisted so much on this point that the
situation of the Due d'Angouleme at head-quarters became very
unpleasant for him as well as embarrassing for the general -in
chief In consequence, he was no longer invited to take part in
the operations that were about to be undertaken, as was at first
intended ; and when, in the beginning of February, it was con-
templated to cross the Adour in order to attack the French
army and lay siege to Bayonne, the Due d'Angouleme was left
at Saint-Jean-de-Luz, far from the scene of operations.

Just at the moment of crossing, diiTferent persons from Bor-
deaux presented themselves to the general-in-chief, among
them being M. de la Rochejacquelein,^ who greatly insisted on
the necessity of making a movement in favour of the Bourbons,
and laid special stress on the good disposition of the town of
Bordeaux. They saw the prince at Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and,
several times, the Duke of Wellington, who was then in ' the
neighbourhood of Saint-Palais. They tried to induce him to

1 Sir Henry Edward Bunbury, bom in 1778, lieutenant-general in the English
army. In 1809 he became Under-Secretary of State in the War department. In 1815,
lie was charged, with Admiral Keith, to notify to the Emperor Napoleon his exile at
St. Helena. He entered the House of Commons in 1830, and refused a short time after,
the post of Secretary of War. He died in i860.

^ Louis du Dergier, Marquis de la Rochejacquelein, brother of the celebrated
Vendean General, killed in 1794. He was born in 1777, followed his father in his
emigration and returned to France in 1801. In 1814 he came to meet the Due d'An-
gouleme at Saint Jean de Luz, and was, a short time after, appointed brigadier-
general by Louis XVIII. During the Hundred Days, he sought to raise Vendee
but was killed on the 4th of June in the fight of Pont-de-Mathes. He had married
the widow of the Marquis de Lescure.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORA TION. 107

favour and foster this movement, but he was immovable in his
refusal, according to the instructions he had just received from
his government.

On the 27th of February the French lost the battle of Orthez,
which left open all the country of Landes as far as Bordeaux,
and the Duke of Wellington, who desired to have a communi-
cation more easy and more open and direct with his country,
decided to occupy that town with troops, and sent thereto
the 7th division of his army, under the command of Lord
Dalhousie.

The entreaties and the motions in favour of a Bourbon rising
became more pressing than ever, and many other people came
from Bordeaux, to urge that movement on the occasion of the
military occupation of the town.

The Duke of Wellington did not believe it right to oppose it ;
but wishing to enlighten the people of Bordeaux and to inform
them of the state of affairs between his government and those of
his allies, he appointed General Beresford,^ general marshal of
the Portuguese troops, and second in command of the army,
to fulfil that task. He gave him the most positive instruc-
tions to declare before entering the town and after the occu-
pation " that they treated for peace with the Emperor Napoleon ;
that it was now probably signed, and that as soon as it became
known the allied army would retire from the country without
being able to lend assistance to any one. It was then for the
inhabitants of Bordeaux to decide themselves if they wished to
run the risk of their enterprise." Letters couched in similar
terms were sent both governments of the Peninsula, and the
night before entering Bordeaux, Marshal Beresford declared what
has just been read to the mayor, M. Lynch,^ who, with several

1 William Carr, Viscount Beresford, descendant from an Irish family, was bom in
1768. He entered the army and fought in the campaigns of 1793 and 1794, against
France. In 1795 he passed to the West Indies, and afterwards to India (1797) ; in
Egypt (1800), at the Cape (1803). In 1806 he attacked Buenos Ayres, then a Spanish
colony, but was beaten and made prisoner. On his return to England he com-
manded an expedition against Madeira, landed in Portugal, in 1808, and was ap-
pointed Governor of Lisbonne. He then became major-general and general-in-chief
of the Portuguese troops. In that capacity he made the campaign of Spain until
1814. After the peace he entered the House of Lords. He retired from public life
in 1830, and died in 1854.

" Jean-Baptiste Comte Lynch was bom at Bordeaux in 1749. His family, of Irish
origin, had emigrated after the Revolution of 1688 and established itself in that town.

lo8 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

other people, had come to meet the Due d'Angoul^me, the
latter having followed the head-quarters of Lord Beresford.

That declaration spread discouragement among the greater
portion of those who were in the plot, and to neutralize the bad
effect that it might produce on the public, M. Lynch ventured
to say in a proclamation that the rising was taking place with
the agreement of the English army, which gave rise to a very
energetic contradiction from the Duke of Wellington, who
exacted a retractation and who obtained it finally, notwithstand-
ing the steps taken by M. Ravez,^ sent by the Due d'Angouleme
to the duke's head-quarters to give explanations. These did not
satisfy Wellington, for he insisted upon the retractation of M.
Lynch's expressions, and it was made.

The rest of the month of March passed without any decisive
event. The French still retreated before the English army, and,
in the end, they were obliged to cross the Garonne in the begin-
ning of April, in order to take up a stronger position before
the city of Toulouse, on the Languedoe canal.

On April 6, the English head-quarters were at Grenade, on
the left bank of the Garonne, and the same day the Duke of
Wellington received an official letter from Lord Bathurst,
Secretary of War, which announced, that " at the reception
of his letter, peace would probably be made with the Em-
peror Napoleon, but that he should still continue his military
operations until he received the official notification of peace
from the English plenipotentiaries who were at Chatillon."

Lynch was received in 1771 as counsellor at the parlement of Bordeaux. He was a
long time imprisoned under the Reign of Terror. Under the Empire he became General
Councillor ofGironde, and Mayor of Bordeaux in 1808. In 1814, he called the
English and proclaimed the restoration of the Bourbons, as early as the 12th of March.
In 1815, he endeavoured, with the Duchesse d'Angouleme to organize the resistance,
but he failed and fled to England. At the second restoration, he was created peer of
France. He died in 1835.

^ Simon Ravez, born in 1770, was in 1791 barrister at Lyons. He took an active
part in the revolt of that town against the Convention, and was afterwards able to
take refuge at Bordeaux, after the defeat of Lyons. He declined every public function
under the Empire, and in 1814 was one of the first to proclaim the restoration of the
Bourbons. In 1816, he was elected deputy of Gironde, and became in 1819, president
of the House. In 1817, he was appointed Under-Secretary of State to the Minister
of Justice. He retired in 1840. In 1848, he was chosen as deputy to the legislative
assembly, but died in 1849.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 109

In consequence, the Garonne was crossed on the 8th of
April, and on the lOth was fought the battle of Toulouse, without
either party knowing what was going on in Paris, beyond the
entrance of the allies into the, capital, the news of which the
Toulouse authorities had had posted at the crossings.

After the battle, the French evacuated the town during the
night from the nth to the 12th, and so persuaded was the Duke
of Wellington of the signing of the peace with Napoleon, that
when about ten o'clock in the morning at the moment of
mounting his horse to enter the city on the 12th, people came to
communicate to him officially that there had been a proclamation
in favour of the Bourbons and that they had hoisted the white flag
at the Capitole, after having thrown down the bust of Napoleon,
he did not conceal his disapprobation, nor the desire of having
been consulted by the town authorities before their having
assumed such a step. He then repeated what he had said to
the Bordeaux people. He employed the same language before
the municipality of Toulouse, when after having been received
by the national guard with the Bourbon colours he alighted
from his horse at the Capitole. The duke's expressions were
clear and precise, and admitted of no interpretation.

But, at about three o'clock in the afternoon, the English
Colonel Frederick Ponsonby, arrived from Bordeaux, preceding
M. de Saint-Simon and Colonel H. Cook, instructed by the pro-
visory government to inform the two armies of the events of
Paris : the emperor's abdication, and of the restoration of the
Bourbons.

The provisory government was then accused of having
delayed acquainting the armies of those important events and
of having thus neglected to prevent the bloodshed resulting from
the battle of Toulouse. But this accusation was groundless, for
the government lost no time in despatching M. de Saint-Simon
and Colonel H. Cook, with instructions to acquaint the two
armies with the abdication of the Emperor and the restoration of
the Bourbons, and, certainly on examining the dates of their
instructions, it is obvious that they would have arrived in time
to save the lives of many a poor wretch, if, after being arrested
at Orleans, and taken to Blois, where was the Empress Marie

no THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Louise, they had been sent to their destination instead of being
directed to Bordeaux, where the Due d'Angoul^me was at that
time.

When one examines the dates of those past events, and
sees that one whole month after the declaration of the town
of Bordeaux, not only did Wellington continue to treat for
peace with Napoleon, but that he believed that a treaty had
have been made and signed with the emperor, until after the
letter from Lord Bathurst was received at Grenade, one may
appreciate the want of importance of that declaration, and
the little influence it would have had upon the overthrow
of the imperial government and on the restoration of the
Bourbons, had not events at Paris decided the question
otherwise.

The result of all those incontestable facts is, that the
English government remained convinced until the last moment
that peace had been signed at Chatillon with Napoleon, which, it
may be here said, diminishes somewhat the credit which, they
say, Louis XVIII. ascribed to the Prince Regent of England,
when he affirmed that it was to him, after God, that he was
indebted for the recovery of his throne.

Let us return now to the events that were taking place at
Paris and in Champagne, and here it is as well to speak of
M. de VitroUes' mission to the head-quarters of the allied
sovereigns. The results of that mission will serve to elucidate
the main point of the question which I treat, and as to the
mission itself, I will say what truth there is in the part that
has been ascribed to me.

Thus, as I have already said, no conspiracy was carried on
at Paris against the emperor ; but there reigned there a general
and very marked anxiety as to the consequences that his
reckless conduct and his resolution not to conclude peace were
likely to produce. It became of the highest importance to
know the part which the united powers would take, when
the day, closely inevitable for those who watched the state of
things, came, when they would overthrow the power of Napoleon.
Would they continue to treat with him } Would another
government be imposed on France, or by leaving her at liberty

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION, iir

to choose herself, would they deliver her up to an anarchy of
which it was impossible to calculate the results ?

I was informed of some conversations held by the Czar
Alexander to the Grand Duchess Stephanie of Baden ; as also
of the insinuations made by that sovereign regarding Eugene
de Beauharnais, and of the pretensions of Bernadotte ; M.
Fouch^ was intriguing with Queen Caroline, Murat's wife.
Finally, the English newspapers informed me that the Due
d'Angouleme was at the head-quarters of Lord Wellington,
and that the Comte d'Artois had taken up a position in Switzer-
land near the frontier of France. There existed there so many
divergent elements that it was impossible to arrive at a reason-
able system, so long as the real intentions of the allied powers
should not be known, seeing that those powers, definitely speak-
ing, would be the masters of the situation if they triumphed over
Napoleon. It was then their opinion that must be known. It
was necessary for that that some reliable person should be
sent to their head-quarters. The Baron de Vitrolles was chosen
for that delicate and difficult mission. I did not know him,
but he was acquainted with M. Mollien and M. d'Hauterive.^
He was spoken of to me as a distinguished, energetic man, a
royalist at heart, but having, however, recognized the necessity
of establishing in France a constitutional monarchy. I believe
even remembering that he wrote a pamphlet^ to that effect,
which he published after the restoration of the Bourbons.

The instructions given to M. de Vitrolles bore only on these
two points. Supposing (that which is inevitable) that Napoleon
succumb in the struggle, what course would the allied cabinets
take 1 Would they still treat with the emperor .■■ or would they
leave France free to choose another government .■'

M. de Vitrolles must have employed a very long and indirect

1 Alexander-Maurice Blanc, Comte d'Hauterive, was bom in 1754, entered the
diplomatic service as secretary to M. de Choisenl-Gouffier at Constantinople. In 1792,
he was chosen consul to the United States, but was dismissed in the following year.
He returned to France after Fructidor 18, and was s.-f-^ovDX&^ chef de division at the
ministry of Foreign Affairs. After the 1 8th of Brumaire he entered the council of state.
On several occasions, he was ad interim Minister of Foreign Affairs. He remained
in office under the Restoration and died in 1830.

* Du Ministire dans le Gouvernement Reprisentatif. (The Part of Ministries in
Representative Governments) by a Member of the Chamber of Deputies (Paris, Dentu,
1815. — M. de Vitrolles was then deputy of the Lower Alps.

112 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

route to reach the head-quarters of the allies, where he arrived
only on March lo, 1814. It was precisely the day fixed when
Napoleon should have given a definite reply on the acceptance
or the non-acceptance of the ultimatum of the allied powers.
That reply having been found dilatory and unsatisfactory, the
plenipotentiaries wished to break off,^ but M. de Caulaincourt, by
his personal influence, obtained a new delay until March 15.
I make this remark to show that M. de Vitrolles' mission had
no influence whatever on the decision of the allied governments,^

^ The allies offered the frontiers of 1790. Napoleon, in his counter-project sub-
mitted March 15 by M. de Caulaincourt, insisted on the Alps and the Rhine as limits.
Besides, he claimed some sovereignty in Italy for Prince Beauhamais, and one for
the Princess Elisa.

* We have thought it advisable to add further explanations at this important
point of the memoirs of M. de Talleyrand, and we have asked Count von Nesselrode,
to-day chancellor of the Russian Empire, to communicate to us such information as
he could possibly give us regarding it. Here are those he has been good enough to
give us : —

"During the campaign of 1814, and the second entrance that the troops were about
to make into the town of Troyes, the sovereigns established their head-quarters in that
town. I was there, when I saw a gentleman who was completely unknown to me,
and who was announced under the name of M. de St. Georges, enter my house.
Then this gentleman made himself very soon known as the Baron de Vitrolles,
declaring that he had been sent from Paris by several personages to deliver certain
important communications to the allied sovereigns : he mentioned among those
personages MM. de Talleyrand and de Dalberg. To secure my confidence, as
it was to me he had been particularly sent, he drew from his pocket a sheet of white
paper, and asked for a light. By the aid of the light I was able to recognize the

writing of one of my friends and relatives — M. de who wrote as follows : ' Receive

the person whom I send to you, with every confidence, listen to him and be grateful
to me. It is time to be more explicit. You are walking on crutches. Make use of
your legs and be willing to do what you can.' Then M. de Vitrolles entered into all
the details on the situation of Napoleon, and on the lassitude the French nation felt
under his yoke, and on the need that it had of guarantees against his despotism. The
disposition of the allied sovereign was not such that immediate consequence could be
given to these communications, and M. de Vitrolles was obliged to leave with only
vague promises.

"Another incident, more serious, followed a short time after. Towards the end
of March, 1814, at the time of the battle of Arcis-sur-Aube (March 21 and 22), I
attended a conference that was held at Bar-sur-Aube, between the ministers of the
allied sovereigns. The conference terminated, the chancellor Von Hardenberg wished
me to stay to dinner. I excused myself, being forced to join the Crar Alexander, and
to report to him the deliberations that had just been held. 1 thus was fortunate enough
to meet the Czar at Arcis, whilst the other ministers and the Emperor of Austria
were severed from the army by Napoleon's move on St. Dizier, and forced to direct
themselves towards Dijon. The same evening, the Russian head-quarters were
transferred to the chateau of Dampierre. It was reached very late. The head-quarters
of the Czar Alexander were united with those of the Prince of Schwarzenburg. I
lodged in an attic. I was scarcely asleep when an aide-de-camp to Prince Wolkonsky
came to wake me and to invite me to go down to Prince Schwarzenburg's rooms to
aid him in unravelling a large quantity of letters from the authorities in Paris to the
Emperor Napoleon, intercepted from a messenger who had been sent him.

I began at once, and 1 found letters and reports written by the Empress Marie-
Louise, by the ministers, and among others, by the minister of police, Savary, in
which they informed Napoleon that there no longer remained any means of resistance

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 113

■who, until March 15, 1814, persevered in the determination to
treat with the emperor, and it was the latter's wilfulness alone
that prevented the negotiations from being successful. On
March 15, they again offered him the limits of France in 1789,
and the treaty of Chaumont^ of March i, 1814, establishes in a
most irrefragable manner, that, at that date, the allied powers
did not think of any other sovereign for PVance than Napoleon.

M. de Vitrolles, first saw at Troyes Counts Nesselrode and
Stadion.^ He explained to them the state of mind reigning at
Paris and in those parts of France not yet invaded : he declared
to them that several persons whom he named desired a change
and legislative guarantees against the violence and the character
of the emperor, and that it had become urgent to take a decision
to prevent France from falling into anarchy.

Count von Stadion introduced him to Prince Metternich, who,
after listening, replied that he " would with sincerity inform him
of the full mind of the powers ; that they recognized that
Napoleon was a man with whom it was impossible to continue
to treat ; that the day when he had reverses he appeared to
yield everything ; but that as soon as he obtained a slight
success, he again assumed pretensions as exaggerated as inad-
missible. They were then agreed to establish in France another
sovereign, and so to regulate things, that Austria, Russia and

and that public opinion was much roused against him, and that it would be very
nearly impossible to defend Paris if the enemy approached. Finally, the success of
the Duke of Wellington on the frontier of the Pyrenees was announced, and the
arrival of the Due d'AngouIeme at Bordeaux.

"I immediately reported this important news to the Czar Alexander. It brought
about the project of uniting the grand army with that of Bliicher and to march to
Paris ; whilst concealing this plan by a corps of six thousand horse that would follow
Napoleon near St. Dizier. The Czar Alexander communicated this project to the
King of Prussia, with whom he united on the heights before Vitry-Ie-Fran9ais, and it
is there that it was decided to march straight on to Paris."— (if. de Bacourt.)

1 The treaty of Chaumont, signed by all the allied powers, prolonged their alliance
for a period of twenty years, and declared that peace should not be signed with
Napoleon, unless he accepted the ultimatum proposed at the Congress of Chatillon.

2 Johan- Philip-Joseph-Karl, Count von Stadion, bom in 1763, was an Austrian
statesman. As early as 1787, he was ambassador at Stockholm, and at London in
1790. He resigned in 1792, and resumed office only in 1804. He was then sent as
ambassador to Saint-Petersburg, and greatly contributed to the third coalition. After
the peace of Presburg, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, but was com-
pelled to retire after the campaign of 1809. Since 1812, he played a leading part in
the various diplomatic incidents that occurred until the downfall of Napoleon. He
was present at the treaty of Toplitz, at the conferences of Frankfort, at the Congress
of Chatillon, and signed the treaty of Paris in 1814. In 1815, he was appointed
Minister of Finances, and died at Baden in 1824.

VOL. II. I

114 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

France should be, on the Continent, countries of equal power,
and to let Prussia remain a power half as strong as any of
the others. That regarding the new Sovereign to be established
in France, it was not possible to think of the Bourbons, because
of the personal character of the princes of that family."

Such was, according to M. de Vitrolles, the opinion expressed
by Prince Metternich.

M. de Vitrolles, who was devoted to the Bourbons, and whom
that reply satisfied but little, requested Count Nesselrode to
manage an interview for him with the Czar Alexander, and
obtained it.

The Czar Alexander repeated about the same things as the
ministers, but he added, on the question of the choice of a
Sovereign for France, that he had thought first to establish
Bernadotte, and then Eugene Beauharnais, but that different
motives were opposed to it. That, in any way, the intention was
especially to consult the wishes of the French themselves, and
that, if they wished to constitute a republic, they would not be
opposed. The Czar dwelt still more than the ministers on the
impossibility of thinking of the Bourbons.

M. de Vitrolles also saw the Emperor of Austria, who told
him that he was going to Dijon, that the Czar of Russia and the
King of Prussia would act as circumstances indicated at Paris,
and that he would come there later.

M. de Vitrolles, instead of returning to Paris, joined the
Comte d'Artois, who had come to France from Switzerland,
and who was now at Nancy. He saw the prince there, March 23,
and did not write to Paris, where he did not arrive till after the
entrance of the allies. Later, he returned to the Comte
d'Artois at Nancy, with powers from the provisory government
to invite the Prince to come to Paris.^

What was the Emperor Napoleon doing all this time ?
After having been attacked by a considerable force in front
of Arcis, March 20, and having acquired the certainty that it
was the grand army of the allies, that the Czar Alexander com-
manded in person, the Emperor Napoleon passed on the right

1 See Appendix I., at the end of Part VII. It contains the account of M. de
Vitrolles' mission by the Due de Dalberg.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 115

bank of the Aube, and set out, by way of Somme-Puis and
Olconte, or St. Dizier, where he arrived March 23. From St.
Dizier, he decided to march to the rear of the enemy, and went
to spend the night at Doulevent. At the time of resuming
this plan, he received news (I believe from Marshal Macdonald),
that a numerous force, in fact, a whole army, was following his
rear-guard. In consequence of that report, the emperor delayed
his march, spent the 25th at Doulevent, and Marshal Macdonald,
having insisted on the exactitude of the information that he had
sent, and which the emperor had doubted, the latter decided to
present himself with all his forces at St. Dizier, but instead of
the army of which mention had been made to him, he found only
a corps of cavalry commanded by General Wintzingerode,^ who,
on arriving at St. Dizier, separated, and retired in three different
directions, Ear, Joinville, and Vitry. The main body took the
last route.

The Emperor Napoleon held a kind of council to find out
if they should follow them ; but as they feared to experience a
strong resistance at Vitry, and to find perhaps the bridge on the
Mame cut, it was decided that they should set off again to-
wards Doulevent, where they arrived on the 28th, having spent
a day at St. Dizier. It was at Doulevent that the Emperor
Napoleon obtained the certainty of the enemy's march to Paris,
and that he decided to hasten there. He arrived on the 29th
at Troyes,- on the 30th at Fromenteau, and on the 31st at
Fontainebleau.

The emperor had informed the Empress Marie Louise of
his project of coming up on the rear of the armies of the allies,
in order to force them to retreat. This letter was written at
Arcis, and the pomp with which the messenger who took it
proceeded to his destination, was noticed by the enemy, and
roused their suspicion of the movement on foot, which
determined them probably to march upon Paris.

1 Ferdinand, Baron von Wintzingerode, bom in 1770, at Bodenstein (Wurtem-
berg), entered at first the service of the Landgrave of Hesse, and afterwards that of
the Emperor of Germany. In 1797, he went to Russia, where he obtained the grade
of major, became aide-de-camp to Alexander in 1802, and ambassador at Berlin in
1805. He fought in the campaigns of 1805, 1806 and 1807. He was at Essling in
1809, where he was seriously wounded. He was then appointed field-marshal. He
took an active share in the campaigns of 1812, 1813, and 1814, and distinguished
himself at the head of the Russian cavalry. He died in 1818.

I 2

ii6 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

All the facts I have just related without heeding the order
in which I stated them, establish, it seems to me, by the clearest
and most complete evidence, the three following points : —

(i) That until March 15, 1814, the united powers were
firmly decided to treat with Napoleon, and, consequently, to
conclude with him a treaty on the basis of the maintenance of
his government.

(2) That it is Napoleon alone, who, by his obstinacy, and be-
cause of the vain hopes in which he indulged, brought upon
himself his own ruin, and exposed France to the misfortune of
having to treat, for her existence and safety, with an enemy
everywhere victorious and triumphant.

(3) Finally, that the allied sovereigns on entering Paris, had
not yet taken any decision as to the choice of government that
they should impose on France, or that they should allow her
to adopt.

Before continuing this rapid narrative of the facts that I
relate briefly and only with the object I have in view, I wish
to explain the reasons that decided me to adopt at the time of
the Restoration the system which I then followed ; that will be
the best explanation of the influence that I was able to
exercise at that time, as it is, in my eyes, its best justification.

I have already said that in these last days of the Empire,
I had often asked myself the question, what form of government
ought France to adopt after the catastrophe that would result
from the fall of Napoleon .'

To dream of preserving the family who had pushed him
into the abyss, was to increase the depths of his misfortune,
by adding humiliation to it. Besides, Austria, who alone
could have seen without displeasure the regency of the
Empress Marie Louise, had only a feeble voice in the council
of the allies. She had come the last among the great powers
who had undertaken to avenge the rights of Europe, and
Europe certainly had not made surprising efforts to place the
throne of France at the disposition of the court of Vienna.

Russia, in her plans, could think of Bernadotte, to rid herself
of a troublesome neighbour in Sweden ; but, Bernadotte was only
a new phase of the revolution. Eugene de Beauharnais would

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 117

perhaps have been elected by the army, but the army was
beaten.

The Due d'Orleans had only a few individuals in his favour.
His father had, for some, the wrong of having tarnished the
word equality ; for others, the Due d'Orleans was but an
usurper, of a better family than Bonaparte.

Nevertheless, it became more pressing every hour to prepare
a government that could be rapidly substituted for the one
that was falling to pieces. One daj^'s hesitation might cause
the ideas of division, and of subjection, that secretly threatened
our unhappy country, to break forth. No intrigue could now '
be carried on," all would have been insufficient. What was
necessary, was to find just what France wanted, and what
would be best for Europe .'

France, in the midst of the horror of an invasion, wished to
be free and respected. This was equivalent to wishing for
the return of the House of Bourbon in the order prescribed
by legitimacy. Europe, still anxious, in the midst of France,
wished her to disarm, and to resume her former limits, so that
peace should no longer need to be constantly guarded. She re-
quired for that guarantees : this was also to wish for the return
of the House of Bourbon.

Thus the requirements of France and of Europe once
recognized, everything would concur to render the restoration of
the Bourbons easy, for the reconciliation could thus be sincere.

The House of Bourbon alone could veil, in the eyes of the
French nation, so jealous of her military glory, the impression of
the reverses which had just befallen her flag.

The House of Bourbon, alone, could in a moment, and without
danger to Europe, dismiss the foreign armies that covered her soil.

The House of Bourbon alone could nobly aid France to again
take possession of the secure frontiers indicated by policy and
by nature. With the House of Bourbon, France would cease
to be gigantic, but would become great. Relieved from the
weight of her conquests, the House of Bourbon alone, could
replace her in the lofty position that she should occupy in the
social system. It alone could avert that vengeance that twenty
years of violence had heaped up against her.

Ii8 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Every road was open to the Bourbons to reach a throne founded
on a free constitution. After having tried all manner of organiz-
ations, and submitted to the most arbitrary of them, France
could find rest only in a constitutional monarchy. The monarchy
with the Bourbons, offered complete legitimacy, for even the
most innovating minds ; for it combined family legitimacy to
that given by institutions, and it was that that France desired.

Strange to say, when the dangers of the community began to
vanish, it was not against the doctrines of usurpation, but only
against him who had so happily and so long made use of them,
that people inveighed, as if peril had come from him alone.

Usurpation, triumphant in France, had not then made on
Europe as great an impression as she should have produced.
It was more the effect, than the cause, that struck people, as
though the one were independent of the other ; France, especially,
had fallen into no less serious errors. On seeing under Napoleon
the country strong and peaceful, enjoying a sort of prosperity,
people thought that it little mattered to a nation on what rights
the government that ruled it was based. A little more judgment
would have shown that that strength was but precarious, that
that tranquillity did not rest on any solid basis, and that that
prosperity being, after all, the fruit of the devastation of other
countries, did not present any element of duration.

What force, in fact, is that which succumbs to the first
reverses ! Spain, invaded by valiant and numerous armies,
before even knowing that she would have a war to face ; Spain,
without troops, without money, languishing, weakened by the
long and disastrous reign of an unworthy favourite under an
incapable king ; Spain, in short, deprived by treason of her
government, struggled for six years, with a gigantic power, and
came out victorious from the contest. France, on the contrary,
having, under Napoleon, reached, in appearance, the highest
degree of strength and power, broke down after three months'
invasion. And if her king, an exile for twenty-five years, for-
gotten, almost unknown, had not come to endow her with a
mysterious force and to impart cohesion to her debris, ready to
be dispersed, perhaps to-day she would be erased from the list
of independent nations.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 119

She was peaceful, it is true, under Napoleon, but her tran-
•quillity she owed to the firm hand which oppressed all, and
threatened to crush all that would have stirred ; and that hand
could not, without danger, have released its grasp even for
an instant. Moreover, how is one to believe that this tran-
quillity could have survived him, whose energy was not too
much to maintain it ? Master of France by the right of the
strongest, could not his generals after him pretend to possess
her by the same right ? The example given by him, taught that
cleverness, or chance, were sufficient to secure power. How
many would not have wished to tempt fortune, and run the
chances of so brilliant a prospect t France would have had
perhaps cis many emperors as armies ; and, destroyed by her
own hands, she would have perished in the convulsions of
civil wars.

Had even her apparent and superficial prosperity taken the
deepest root, it would have been, like her strength and tranquil-
lity, limited to the term of a man's life — a term short indeed,
and one which might be reached any day.

Thus, nothing is more fatal than usurpation, for nations
■which rebellion, or conquest, have caused to fall under the yoke
of an usurper as well as for neighbouring nations. To the first,
it only offers a future with no end of troubles, revolutions, and
internal calamities ; and it constantly threatens the others, to
oppress and crush them in turn. It is for all an instrument
of destruction and death.

The first need of Europe, her greatest interest, was then to
banish the doctrines of usurpation, and to revive the principle of
legitimacy, the only remedy for all the evils which had over-
whelmed her, and the only one which could prevent a relapse
into them.

This principle, as may be seen, is not, as thoughtless men
suppose, or as the abettors of revolutions would have us
believe, solely a means of preservation of the power of
kings, and the safety of their persons ; it is especially a
necessary element of the tranquillity and happiness of nations,
the most solid, or rather, the only guarantee of their strength
and duration. The legitimacy of kings, or, to say better.

I20 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

of governments, is the safeguard of nations. That is the
reason why it is sacred.

I speak of the legitimacy of governments in general, whatso-
ever be their form, and not only of those of kings, because
it applies to all governments. A lawful government, be it
monarchical or republican, hereditary or elective, aristocratic or
democratic, is always one whose existence, form, and mode
of action, have been consolidated and consecrated by a long
succession of years, and I should say almost, by a secular pre-
scription. The legitimacy of the sovereign power results from the
ancient status of possession, just as, for private individuals,
does the right of property.

But according to the kind of government, the violation of the
principle of legitimacy may, in some respects, have various
effects. In an hereditary monarchy, this right is indissolubly
linked to the person of the members of the reigning family
in the established order of succession. It can only die out by the
death of all its members, who, themselves, or their descendants,
could have been called to the crown by virtue of that order of
succession. That is why Machiaveli says in his book of The
Prince, that the usurper could not firmly establish his power, if
he did not take the life of all the members of the family which
reigned legitimately. Therefore, this is why the Revolution
would have the blood of all the Bourbons. 'But, in a republic,
where the sovereign power exists only in a collective and moral
person, as soon as usurpation, by destroying the institutions that
gave it existence, destroy, it also, the political body is dissolved,
the state is struck to death. There no longer exists any legiti-
mate right ; because there no longer exists any one to whom this
right belongs.

Thus, though the principle of legitimacy be not less vio-
lated by the overthrow of a republican government than by
the usurpation of a crown, it does not require that the former be
restored, whereas it does require that the crown be returned to
him to whom it belongs. Thus is manifested the excellency of
the monarchical government, which, more than any other,
guarantees the preservation and the perpetuity of states.

Those were the ideas and the reflections which determined

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE—THE RESTORATION. 121

the resolution I adopted, to insist on the restoration of the House
of Bourbon, if the Emperor Napoleon made himself impossible,
and if I could exercise some influence on the final decision that
would be taken.

I do not pretend that I was alone in having these ideas, I can
even cite an authority who shared them with me, it is Napoleon
himself. In the interview held with M. de la Besnardiere, and
of which I speak above, he told him the day he learned of the
allies having entered Champagne, " If they reach Paris, they will
bring you the Bourbons, and you will not be able to help your-
selves."

" But," replied Besnardiere, " they are not there yet."

" Ah," replied he, " that is my business to prevent them, and
I certainly hope to do so."

Another day, having talked a long time of the impossibility of
making peace on the basis of the old limits of France, " a kind
of peace," he said, " that the Bourbons alone could make," he said
that he would sooner abdicate ; that he would readily re-enter
private life, that he had very few needs, that five francs a day
would be sufficient, that his only passion had been to make the
French the greatest people on earth, that being obliged to re-
nounce that, nothing remained for him, and he concluded with
these words, " If no one will fight, I cannot carry on a war alone ;
if the nation wants peace on the basis of the former limits, I
shall say to it, ' Seek another ruler, I am too great for you ! ' "

Being thus obliged to recognize the necessity of the return of
the Bourbons, he reconciled his vanity with the misfortunes he
had brought upon his country.

But let us return to facts.

I have not the intention of relating the history of the Restora-
tion of 1 8 14, which will be written some day by people more
clever than myself. It will be sufficient to recall here a few
of the principal events of that epoch.

While Napoleon followed up the rear of the chief army of the
allies, the latter had advanced near Paris, where it arrived the 30th
of March. After a lively struggle which lasted all the day of
the 30th, and that was bravely sustained by Marshals Marmont
and Mortier, the latter were obliged to capitulate during the

122 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

night of the 30th to the 31st, as they had been authorized to do
by Joseph Bonaparte, who had retired to Blois with the empress
and the King of Rome.^

The Emperor Alexander, the King of Prussia, and Prince
von Schwarzenberg entered Paris on the 31st of March at
the head of their troops, and after having reviewed them in the
Champs-Elysees, the Czar Alexander came directly to my h6tel,
in the rue St. Florentine where he had been preceded in the
morning by Count Nesselrode. It had been arranged that the
Czar Alexander should reside at the Elysde palace, but, on some
one's advice, I do not know whose, he preferred to stay at my
house.^

The first point touched upon between the Czar Alexander
and myself could naturally only concern the choice of government
to be adopted by France. I laid stress on the reasons that

^ King Joseph, in the capacity of lieutenant-general of the empire had, March 30
at noon, authorised the Due de Trevise, and the Due de Raguse to open negotiations
with the enemy. In consequence, a convention was signed on the same evening at
six o'clock, between the two marshals and Count Nesselrode, which regulated the
evacuation of Paris by the French troops.

- M. de Talleyrand occupied in the rue St. Florentin a. mansion built at the
beginning of the eighteenth century by the architect Chalgrin for Louis Phelypeaux,
Comte de St. -Florentin, Minister of State. That mansion belonged successively to
the Due de Fitz- James, and to the Duchess of Infantado (1787). In 1793, it was turned
into a saltpetre manufactory. The Marquis d'Hervas purchased it afterwards, and sold
it to Prince Talleyrand, who died there in 1838.

' We also thought it advisable to obtain on this point explanations from Count
Nesselrode. This is what he said to us : —

" The head-quarters of the Czar Alexander were situated March 30, under the walls
of Paris, which capitulated on the night of the 30th to the 31st. On the 31st, in the
morning, the emperor sen: me to Paris, escorted by one Cossack. I was thus the first
to enter the city by the barrier St. Martin, and followed all the boulevards that were
thronged with people. I reported myself at once at rue St. Florentin at M. de Talley-
rand's hotel, who received me extremely well, and who, being in the act of combing his
hair, covered me with powder from head to foot in embracing me. While I was at M.
de Talleyrand's, the Czar Alexander sent word that he had just been informed that the
Elysee Palace, where he was about to reside was undermined, and that he must take
care not to reside there. M. de Talleyrand said he did not believe that report, but
that if the Czar found it more convenient to reside elsewhere, he would place his own
hotel at his disposal, which he accepted, and it is thus that the emperor came to stay
in the rue St. Florentin."

We must add what Count Nesselrode does not say, though history does, that he
played a leading part in the great events which took place in that hOlcl. It was he,
among others, who, conjointly with the Due de Dalberg, drafted the proclamation
addressed by the allied sovereigns to the French nation. Plowever great the service
rendered to Louis XVIII. by Count Nesselrode and Prince Metternich, it is absolutely
false that they each received a million from that sovereign. It is a calumny invented
by libellous writers, and repeated as true by one of the would-be historians of the
Restoration, M. de Vaulabelle. These two statesmen received on the occasion of
the treaty of Paris, the usual diplomatic present, a box of the value of i8,coo francs.
— {M. de Bacozirt. )

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 123

I mentioned above, and I no longer hesitated to declare to him
that the House of Bourbon was recalled by those who dreamed
of the old monarchy with the principles and virtues of Louis
XII., as well as by those who desired a new monarchy with a
free constitution, and the latter fully proved it, since the wish
expressed by the only body that could speak in the name of
the nation, was proclaimed all over France, and found an echo
in every heart.

That was the peremptory reply that I made to one of the
questions that the Czar of Russia addressed me : " How can I
find out that France desires the House of Bourbon ? "

"By a decision, sire, that I shall take upon myself to have
adopted by the senate, and of which your Majesty will
immediately see the effect."

" You are sure of it } "

" I will answer for it."

I convened the senate on April 2, and, in the evening at
seven o'clock, I carried to the Czar the memorable decision that
I had had signed individually by all those who composed the
senate. It was that which pronounced the overthrow of
Napoleon, and the restoration of the Bourbons with constitu-
tional guarantees.^

The Czar Alexander was amazed, I must say, when he saw
among the names of the senators who asked for the return of
the house of Bourbon, the names of several of the very men
who had voted for the death of Louis XVI.

The decree of the senate being rendered, the house of
Bourbon could consider itself as seated almost peacefully, not
on the throne of Louis XIV., but on a solid throne resting
on really monarchical and constitutional foundations, which
should render it not only steady but even unassailable.

I know that all I have just said may displease a great many,
for I destroy, I believe, the importance of all those little efforts
that a number of persons faithfully devoted to the Bourbons,
boast of having made to lead to their restoration. But I speak

^ See Appendix II. at the end of Part VII., containing a letter from Benjamin
Constant to Prince Talleyrand, congratulating the latter on the part played by him on
April 2.

124 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

my mind, and my opinion is, that no one has caused the res-
toration, nor I, nor others. Though I was able to say to the
Czar Alexander, whose confidence I had had during many years,
" Neither you, sire, nor the allied powers, nor I, whom you
believe to possess some influence, not one of us, could give a king
to France. France is conquered — and by your arms, and yet
even to-day, you have not that power. To force a king upon
France, would require both intrigue and force ; one or the
other alone would not be sufficient. In order to establish a
durable state of things, and one which could be accepted without
protest, one must act upon a principle. With a principle we are
strong. We shall experience no resistance ; opposition will, at
any rate, vanish soon ; and there is only one principle. Louis
XVIII. is a principle : he is the legitimate King of France."

By the political relations I had preserved, and by those
which I had newly established, I had the advantage of being
able to tell the foreign sovereigns what they could do, and by my
long acquaintance with politics I had been enabled to fathom,
and fully grasp, the needs and the wishes of my country. The end
of my political life would have been too glorious if I had had the
happiness of being the principal instrument that served, by re-
storing the throne of the Bourbons, to ensure for ever to France
that wise liberty which a great nation should always enjoy.

I omitted to say that, in its sitting of the 1st of April,
the senate, had, on my motion, decreed the formation of a
provisory government.^

The overthrow once pronounced by the senate in the sitting
of the 2nd, Napoleon fully realized that there was nothing left
for him to do but to treat with the allied sovereigns respecting
the situation that was henceforth to be offered him. M. de
Caulaincourt and two of his marshals ^ came to Paris to watch
the negotiation. They nobly discharged that painful mission.
A few days previously, on April 2, M. de Caulaincourt had
already come from Fontainebleau to Paris, to uphold the rights
of Napoleon. At the moment when I was leaving on that day

' It was composed of M. de Talleyrand, president ; of the Due de Dalberg, the
Comte de Jaucourt, Abbe de Montesquiou, and General Beumonville.
^ Marsha), Prince de la Moskowa, and Marshal, Due de Tarente.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 125

to go to the senate, to have that assembly proclaim the emperor's
overthrow, M. de Caulaincourt, with whom I had just had a
long discussion in the presence of the Czar Alexander, of Count
Nesselrode, and of several others, and who had warmly and
courageously defended the interests of Napoleon, said to me :

" Very well, if you go to the senate to have the forfeiture of
the emperor's rights pronounced, I shall go there to defend
them."

I replied in a jesting tone : " You do well to inform me of
this ; I am going to give orders to have you detained at my
h6tel until my return."

" You may well think," he said, in the same tone, " that if I
had had the intention of doing so, I should have been very
careful not to inform you. I see only too well that there is no
means of saving him, since you are all against me."

As a sequel to the negotiations between the allied powers
and the provisory government on the one hand, and the pleni-
potentiaries of Napoleon on the other, an arrangement inter-
vened, by which the emperor and his family were treated
generously, and which even respected their dignity by the very
terms employed in the wording. The declaration of the allies
ran thus : —

Wishing to prove to the Emperor Napoleon that all
animosity ceases on their part, from the moment when there
is no longer any need to watch over the rest of Europe, and
that they cannot, nor will not, forget the place which belongs to
the Emperor Napoleon in the history of his time, the allied
powers accord him in full ownership, for himself and family,
the Island of Elba ; ^ they settle on him an income of six millions
a year, of which three millions shall be for himself and the
Empress Marie Louise, and three millions for the rest of his
family, to wit : his mother, his brothers Joseph, Louis and
J^r6me, his sisters Eliza and Pauline, and the Queen Hortense,
who shall be considered as a sister, while awaiting the fate of
her husband.

There was, a little later, a change made in this apportioning,

1 See Appendix III. at the end of Part VII., concerning Fouche's opinion on
this matter (letter of the Due d'Otrante to Napoleon).

126 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

the Empress Marie Louise not having followed the Emperor
Napoleon ; it was made in the following manner : —

The emperor, two millions ; his mother, three hundred
thousand francs ; Joseph and his wife, five hundred thousand
francs ; Louis, two hundred thousand francs ; Hortense and her
children, four hundred thousand francs ; Jerome and his wife,
five hundred thousand francs ; Eliza, three hundred thousand
francs ; and Pauline, three hundred thousand francs.

The provisory government in its turn adhered to this act by
the following declaration : —

The allied powers having concluded a treaty with His
Majesty the Emperor Napoleon, and this treaty containing
dispositions in the execution of which the French government
is in a position to take a part, and mutual explanations having
been held on this point, the provisory government of France,
with the intention of concurring in all the measures that are
adopted to give to the events which have taken place a special
character of moderation, grandeur, and generosity, considers it
a duty to declare that it will adhere to them as much as
possible, and guarantee in everything which concerns France,
the execution of the stipulations contained in this treaty which
have been signed to-day between the plenipotentiaries of
the high allied powers and that of His Majesty the Emperor
Napoleon.

I had had the honour to be placed by the senate's decree
of the 1st of April at the head of the provisory government,
which for a few days conducted the affairs of France. I
shall not allow myself to speak here of all the acts of the
government ; they are to be seen in print everywhere. The
brilliant pen of M. de Fontanes may be seen in several of
them, and since I have mentioned him, I am very happy to
remember the services that the Due de Dalberg, and the Marquis
de Jaucourt ^ rendered France at that epoch. 1 think it almost

^ Fran9ois Marquis de Jaucourt, born in 1757) was colonel of dragoons in 1789.
He was in 1791 elected deputy to the legislative assembly. Having emigrated the
following year, he returned to France after Brumaire 18, was named member of the
tribunal in 1S02, senator in 1803, intendant of the house of Prince Joseph 1S04. In
1814 he took a part in the provisory government ; served as ad interim Minister
of Foreign Aifairs during the sojourn of M. de Talleyrand at Vienna, and was
appointed peer of France. He became Minister of the Marine in 1815. In 1830 he
re-allied himself with the monarchy of July, retained his seat in the House of Peers
and died in 1852.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 127

my duty, when I see the widespread disposition to forget
those courageous men who so nobly devoted themselves to
saving their country.

In one hour the empire of Napoleon was destroyed ; the
kingdom of France existed, and all was already easy to that
weak provisory government. It encountered no obstacles
anywhere ; the need of police, or of money, did not make itself
felt, and everything worked satisfactorily. All the expenditure
of the provisory government that lasted seventeen days, and
of the entrance of the king into Paris, is entered in the budget
of that year as two hundred thousand francs. It is true that
every one aided us, and I am persuaded that the expense of the
journeys I forced upon the officers of Napoleon's army, from
one end of France to the other, is still owing.

On the 1 2th of April, 18 14, the Comte d'Artois, to whom
I had sent M. de Vitrolles at Nancy, entered Paris, and took
the title of lieutenant-general of the kingdom. I found in him
the same kindness as on the night of the 17th of July, 1789,
when we separated, he to emigrate, I to fling myself into the
exciting events which had finished by conducting me to the
head of the provisory government. Strange destinies !

The duties of my position kept me at Paris, and made it
impossible for me to go to meet Louis XVIII. I saw him for the
first time at Compiegne. He was in his study. M. de Duras ^
conducted me there. The king, on seeing me, held out his
hand, and, in the kindest and most affectionate manner, said,
■' I am exceedingly pleased to see you. Our houses date from
the same epoch. My ancestors were the cleverest ; if yours had
been more so than mine, you would have said to me to-day,
' Take a chair — draw near — let us speak of our affairs ; ' to-day
it is I who say it to you. Let us sit down and talk."

I had, soon after, the pleasure of repeating those words
of the king's to my uncle, the Archbishop of Reims, so com-
plimentary to all our family. I repeated them the same evening
to the Czar of Russia, who was at Compiegne, and who with

^ Amedee, Due de Durfort-Duras, was bom in 1770, beecame brigadier-general
and first gentleman of the king's chamber. He followed Louis XVIII. into exile,
was made a peer of France at the Restoration, and died in 1836.

128 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

great interest asked me, " sij'avais H^ content dii roi." I employ
the terms that he used. I have not been so weak as to speak of
the opening of this interview to other people.

I gave the king an account of the state in which he would
find things. That first conversation was a very long one.

The king decided, before arriving at Paris, to issue a pro-
clamation, in which his dispositions should be announced ; he
drafted it himself. It was dated from Saint-Ouen. During the
night which he passed at Saint-Ouen, the intriguers who
surrounded the king, caused several changes to be added to
that declaration — of which I did not approve. The address
that I had read him in presenting the senate to him the
evening before his entrance into Paris, will show more than
all I could say, what was my opinion, and what was that which
I sought to give him. Here is the address : —

Sire, —

The return of your Majesty restores to France her
natural government, and all the necessary guarantees for her
repose, and for the repose of Europe. All hearts feel that
this benefit can be due only to yourself ; and therefore rush to
greet you. There are joys that cannot be controlled. That
whose transports you now hear, is a joy truly national. The
senate, profoundly touched by this affecting spectacle, happy
to mingle its sentiments with those of the people, comes, as
they, to place at the foot of the throne its testimony of respect
and love.

Sire, scourges without number have made desolate the
kingdom of your fathers. Our glory has taken refuge in the
camp ; the armies have saved the honour of the French. In
ascending the throne you succeed to twenty years' of ruin and
misfortunes ; such an inheritance would frighten an ordinary
mind ; the reparation of so great a disorder requires the
devotion of great courage ; prodigies are necessary to heal the
wounds of a country ; but we are your children, and the
prodigies are reserved for your paternal care.

The more difficult the situation, the more need of power,
and reverence towards the king. In speaking to the imagi-
nation by the brilliant past it recalls, royal authority will know
how to conciliate all the desires of modern reason, by borrowing
from the wisest political theories.

A constitutional charter will link all interests to those of

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 129

the crown, and strengthen the prince's will by backing it with
the will of the whole nation.

You know better than we, sire, how well such institutions —
as has been proved lately by a neighbouring people — give sup-
port, and not barriers, to the monarchs who are friends of the
law, and fathers of their people.

Yes, sire, the nation and the senate, full of confidence in
the great enlightenment, and magnanimous sentiments of Your
Majesty, desire with you, that France be free and the king
powerful.

I returned to Paris to occupy myself with the preparations
for the brilliant entrance of Louis XVIII. He was shown
on all sides, that France saw in him the guarantee of her
peace, the pressrver of her glory, and the restorer of her
liberty.

There was gratitude on every face. Madame, the Duchesse
d'Angouleme, falling upon her knees in the church of Notre-
Dame, appeared to all sublime : every eye was filled with tears.

The first two mornings, the king received nearly all the
dignitaries of state ; the addresses were very good, and the king's
responses suitable and affectionate. The foreign sovereigns had
the delicacy to show themselves but little.

The courts of the Tuileries, the public squares, the theatres,
were filled with people. There was a crowd everywhere, but an
orderly crowd, for not a soldier was to be seen.

Very soon, it was necessary to set about the drafting of the
x;harter which had been announced, and then, intriguing and in-
capable persons beset the king, and induced him to intrust to them
the drawing up of this important document I had no part in
it ; the king did not even designate me to be one of the mem-
bers of the commission to whom it had been intrusted. I am
forced to leave all the honour of it to Abbe de Montesquiou,^

^ Franyois-Xavier-Marc-Antoine, Abbe de Montesquiou-Fezenzac, bom in 1757.
Having em braced the ecclesiastical profession, he was appointed in 1 785, agent-general
of the clergy. In 1 789 the clergy of Paris sent him to the States-General and he was
twice president of the assembly in 1790. He escaped arrest under the Reign of
Terror ; was after the 9th Thermidor one of the agents appointed by Louis XVIII. to
defend his cause in France. He was also exiled to Mentone under the Consulate.
In 1814 he took a part in the provisory government, and, on the 13th of May, was
appointed Minister of the Interior. Under the second Restoration he remained
minister of state, and was created peer of France. He resigned in 1832 and died
the same year.

VOL. IL K

130 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

and M. Dambray,^ M. Ferrand,^ and M. de Semonville. I
only name the principal compilers. As for myself, I knew the
charter only by the chancellor, M. Dambray, reading it in a
council of the ministers on the evening before the opening of
the House, and I was ignorant of the names of those persons
who were to compose the House of Peers, until the royal sitting,
when the Chancellor proclaimed them.

The king had appointed me Minister of Foreign Affairs, and
I was supposed, in that capacity, to occupy myself with the
treaties of peace. Now is the time to speak of that difficult
work, for which I have been so much attacked, and with
regard to which it will be very pleasant to defend myself

From April 23, and before the king's arrival, I had to
negotiate, and sign a preliminary convention with the plenipo-
tentiaries of the allied powers.

In order to judge impartially of the transactions of that
epoch, it is necessary to take into consideration the state to
which the faults of Napoleon had reduced France, drained as
she was of men, money, and resources ; invaded on all her
frontiers at the same time, on the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Rhine,
and Belgium, by innumerable armies, composed, as a rule, not
of mercenary soldiers, but of a people completely animated
with the spirit of hate and vengeance. During twenty years
these people had seen their territories occupied and ravaged
by the French armies ; they had been oppressed by every
means, insulted, treated with the most profound contempt ;
there had been no manner of outrage that one could mention
that it was not their lot to avenge ; and yet, if they resolved
to wreak their vengeance, what had France to oppose to them .■"

^ Charles Henry, Vicomte Dambray, born in 1760 at Rouen, was first counsellor at
law ivi parkment. In 1788 he was appointed general advocate at the Court of Aids.
He was not disturbed under the Reign of Terror ; was in 1795 elected deputy to the
Council of Five Hundred, but refused to sit. Under the Consulate he became counsellor
general to the Lower Seine. In 1814M. Dambray was appointed chancellor, keeper
of the seals, and peer of France. Under the second Restoration he retained only his.
functions of president of the House of Peers. He died in 1829.

^ Antoine-Franfois-Claude Comte Ferrand, born in 1 75 1 of an old family of magis-
trates. He was received as counsellor oi pariemeni at the age of eighteen. He emigrated
about the month of September, 1789 ; presented himself to the aimy of the princes and
took part in 1793 in the regents' council. He returned to France in 1801, and lived
in retreat, busying himself with historical works. In 1S14, he was appointed
minister of state and postmaster-general. In 1815 he again lookup his functions, wai
elected peer of France, and member of the privy council. He died in 1825.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE—THE RESTORATION. 131

It was not the last scattered remnants of its armies, dis-
persed as they were to all the parts of the country without
union, and commanded by rival chiefs that had not always
submitted, even under the iron hand of Napoleon. There existed
still, it is true, a fine and numerous French army ; but it was
parcelled out among fifty fortresses, from the banks of the
Vistula to those of the Seine; there also existed the masses
of prisoners held by our enemies. But the fortresses were
closely blockaded, the days of their resistance numbered, and
their garrisons, like the prisoners, could only be given up to
France by a treaty.

It was under such circumstances that the French pleni-
potentiaries had to negotiate with those of the united powers,
and that too in the very capital of France. I think I am
justified in here recalling with pride the conditions I obtained,
no matter how painful and humiliating they were.^

Here are the terms of the preliminary convention of
April 23, 1814 {Moniteur oi 1814, No. 114).

CONVENTIONS
Between H.R.H. Monsieur, son of France, brother
of the king, lieutenant-general of the kingdom of
France, and each of the high Allied Powers,
namely: Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia,
signed at Paris, April 23, 1814, and ratified the same
day by Monsieur.

The allied powers are at one in their intention to put an
end to the misfortunes of Europe, and to found its peace on a
just division of the forces between the states that compose it, and
wishing to give to France, now that she has once again a
government whose principles guarantee them the maintenance
of peace, the proofs of their desire to place themselves in
amicable relations with her ; desiring also that France enjoy
as much as possible beforehand the benefits of the peace,
even before all the provisions of it have been established, have
resolved to proceed conjointly with H.R.H. Monsieur, son of
France, brother of the king, lieutenant-general of the kingdom,
towards a suspension of hostilities between the respective forces,

' See Appendix IV. at the end of Part Vll.

K 2

132 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

and to the resumption of former friendly relations between
them.

H.R.H. Monsieur, son of France, &c. on the one hand, and
H.M. &c. on the other, have appointed, in consequence, plenipo-
tentiaries to agree upon an act, which, without prejudging the
conditions of peace, shall stipulate for a suspension of hostilities,
and which shall be followed, as soon as possible, by a treaty of
peace, namely (designation of the high contracting parties and
of their plenipotentiaries), who, after the exchange of their full
powers, have agreed upon the following articles.

Art. I. — All hostilities by land and sea are and shall remain
suspended between the allied powers and France, namely :
for the land forces as soon as the generals commanding
French armies and fortresses, shall have informed the generals
commanding the allied troops that are opposed to them, that
they recognize the authority of the lieutenant-general of the
realm of France ; and as regards naval forces either on the
high seas, or in seaports, and naval stations, as soon as the war-
vessels and the ports of the kingdom of France, or of other
countries occupied by French troops, shall send in similar
submissions.

Art. II. — To acknowledge the resumption of friendly rela-
tions between the allied powers and France, and to cause her to
enjoy beforehand, as much as possible, the advantages of peace,
the allied powers agree to have their armies evacuate French
territory such as it was on Jan. i, 1792, according as the places
outside of these limits, still occupied by the French troops,
shall be evacuated and handed over to the allies. (It will be
noticed that, at the Chatillon Congress, it was the limits of
France in 1789, that the enemies imposed upon Napoleon.
Thus by virtue of that article 2, we retained the Comtat of
Avignon, Landau, Savoy, the county of Montbeliard, and other
territories annexed to France between 17S9 and 1 792.1)

Art. III. — The lieutenant-general of the realm shall, in con-
sequence, give to the commanders of those fortresses, the order
of handing them over in the following manner : those situated on
the Rhine, not comprised within the limits of France, on Jan. i,
1792, and those between the Rhine and the same limits, within
a delay of ten days, dating from the signing of the present
act ; the fortresses of Piedmont and of the other parts of
Italy, which belong to France, within fifteen days, those
situated in Spain within twenty days, and all other fortresses

^ Montbeliard was formerly the chief town of an independent principality, which,
after passing under many difierent masters, belonged to the Dukes of Wurtemberg,
since 1723. France conquered it in 1792, and was allowed to keep it by the peace of
Luneville.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 133

without exception, which are occupied by French troops, in
such a manner that the final delivery shall be performed by
June I, next. The garrisons of those fortresses shall take with
them, their arms and baggage, as well as the private property
of the military men and civilian employes of all grades. They
shall take away their field artillery, in the proportion of three
pieces for every thousand men, sick and wounded included.

The endowment for fortresses, and all that which is not
private property, shall remain and shall be returned in its entirety
to the allies, without excepting a single article. In the endow-
ment, are included not only the depots of artillery and of
ammunition, but also all other provisions of every kind, as also
the archives, inventories, plans, maps, models, &c.

First, after the signing of the present convention, commis-
sioners for France and for the allied powers, shall be appointed
and sent into the fortresses to verify the state in which they
are, and to superintend together the execution of this article.

The garrisons shall follow, by daily stages, different roads,
previously agreed upon, for re-entering France.

The siege and blockade of fortresses in France shall be at
once raised by the allied armies. The French troops belonging
to the army of Italy, or occupying the strongholds of that
country, or fortresses in the Mediterranean, shall be at once
recalled by H.R.H. the lieutenant-general of the kingdom.
[It must not be forgotten that before the allied powers crossed
the Rhine; Napoleon had offered to return to them the fortresses
situated on the Vistula and on the Oder, on the conditions
indicated in the first two paragraphs of this article.^]

Art. IV. — The stipulations of the preceding article shall be
equally applied to naval stations ; the contracting powers how-

^ We give the following letter for those who might feel inclined to doubt the
assertion of Prince Talleyrand on this point : —

The Major-General to Marshal Marmont.

" Paris, November 18, 1813.
" Monsieur le Mar^chal Dug de Raguse,

" The emperor requests me to write to you, to let you know that his intention is, that
you send an intelligent officer to the Prince von Schwarzenberg to offer to negotiate
for the surrender of Danzig, Moellin, Zamose, Custrin, Stettin, and Glogau. The
conditions of the sun'ender of these places shall be that the garrisons return to France
with arms and baggage, without being prisoners of war ; that all the field artillery
bearing French arms, as also the storehouses of clothing that are found in those
fortresses, shall be left to us ; that means of transportation shall be furnished us ; that
the sick shall be nursed, and sent home, as soon as cured. You shall make it known
that Danzig can still hold out a year ; that Glogau and Custrin can likewise hold out
a year ; and that if the enemy would have those places by a siege, they would spoil
the city ; that these conditions are therefore very advantageous to the allies ; moreover
that the surrender of these places will pacify the Prussian States. If they talk of
the surrender of Hamburg, Magdeburg, Erfurt, Torgau, or of Wittenberg, His
Majesty desires you to reply that you will take his orders thereon, but that you have

134 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

ever reserve to themselves the right of regulating in the treaty
of definite peace, the disposal of the arsenals, and war vessels,
armed and not armed, that are found in the said stations.

Art. V. — The fleets and the men of war of France shall remain
in their respective situations, except vessels charged with missions,
which shall be allowed to pass ; but the immediate effect of the
present act regarding the French ports, shall be the raising of
all blockades by land or by sea, the right of fishing, of coasting,
particularly of that necessary for the victualling of Paris, and
the re-opening of commercial intercourse conformable to the
internal rules of each country ; and the immediate effect as
regards the interior, will be the free supply of provisions to the
towns, and the free transit of military or commercial transports.

Art. VI.— To prevent all subjects of complaint, and dispute,
that might arise on the occasion of captures by sea after the
signing of the present convention, it is mutually agreed that the
vessels and goods that may be captured in the Channel, and in
the North Sea after the space of twelve days, beginning from
the date of the ratification of the present act, shall be restored by
each side ; that the limit shall be a month for anywhere between
the Channel and the North Sea, and the Canary Isles ; two
months for the Equator ; and finally of five months in all the
other parts of the world, without exception or distinction of
time or place.

Art. VII. — The prisoners on both sides, officers and privates,
army and navy, or whatever they may be, and especially hostages,
shall be immediately sent back to their respective countries with-
out ransom or exchange. Commissioners shall be appointed on
both sides to proceed with this general liberation.

Art. VII I.^ — -Immediately after the signing of the present act,
the administration of the departments or towns actually occupied
by their forces, shall be handed over by the co-belligerents, to
the magistrates appointed by H.R.H. the lieutenant-general of
the realm of France. The royal credit will provide for the sub-
sistence and needs of the troops until such time as they shall

received no instructions ; that the only question is now to treat for the fortresses on the
Oder and the Vistula. These communications, Monsieur le Marechal, will also enable
you to gauge the dispositions of the allies.

"The Prince Vice-Constable, Major-General.*
"Alexander."

Let us add that the convention of April 23, 1814, benefited France by the return
of two hundred and fifty thousand men, who had been shut up in fifty-four fortresses, and
of a hundred and fifty thousand prisoners of war. Marechal Davoust alone returned
from Hamburg with twenty thousand armed men, a hundred pieces of artillery, and
two hundred ammunition waggons ; it was, consequently, five pieces of artillery
instead of three per thousand men as stipulated by the convention. — {M. de Bacouri.)

* See Mftiioires du Due de RagiKe, vol. 6, p. 75-7S.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 135

have evacuated French territory, the allied powers agreeing as a
result of their friendship for France, to cease the military requi-
sitions, as soon as the handing over of the administration to
the legitimate powers shall have been established.

All that bears upon the execution of this article shall be
regulated by special agreement. [This Article VIII. was of
great importance as putting an end to the requisitions of the
hostile generals, which had so exhausted France.]

Art. IX. — It shall also be determined in accordance with the
terms of Art. II., as to the routes that the troops of the allied
powers shall follow in their march, in order to prepare them
means of subsistence, and commissioners shall be appointed
to regulate all arrangements of details, and to accompany the
troops till the moment of their leaving French territory.

In faith of which

Given at Paris, the 2},rd of April, 1814.

Additional Article. — The addition of ten days granted
by virtue of the stipulations of Art. III., of the convention of
that day for the evacuation of the fortresses on the Rhine, and
of those between this river and the ancient frontiers of France,
is extended to those places, forts, and military establishments,
of whatever nature they may be, in the United Provinces of the
Low Countries.

By this convention, that which was thought to be most
urgent, has been provided for, viz., the liberation of the territory,
of prisoners, the return into France of the French garrisons on
the Rhine, and the cessation of the ruinous requisitions. The
definite treaty which was to regulate the new relations with France
and Europe, remains to be negotiated, and it cannot be concluded
and signed until the 30th of May.^ I shall however insert
this treaty here : —

Treaty of Peace
between the king and the allied powers, concluded
AT Paris, May 30th 1814.

In the Name of the most Holy and Indivisible Trinity,
His Majesty the King of France, and of Navarre, on the one

^ The day after the signing of the treaty, M. de Talleyrand addressed the following
letter to the Princess of Courland :

" Paris, May 31, 1814.
" I have concluded peace with the four great powers. The three accessions * are
* The accessions of Spain, Portugal, and Sweden.

136 THE MEMO/US OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

side, and His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary
and Bohemia, and his allies on the other, being animated by
an equal desire to put an end to the long agitations of
Europe, and to the misfortunes of the people, by a solid peace,
founded on a just assessment of the forces of the powers, and
bearing in its stipulations the guarantee of its duration ; and
His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and
Bohemia, and his allies, wishing to exact no more from France,
now that she is placed under the paternal government of her kings,
and thus offers to Europe a pledge of security and stability,
conditions and guarantees that they regretted having missed
under the last government, their said Majesties have appointed
plenipotentiaries to discuss, conclude, and sign a treaty of peace
and of amity — to wit :

His Majesty the King of France and Navarre, M. Charles
Maurice de Talleyrand-P^rigord, prince de B^n^vent, Grand
Eagle of the Legion of Honour .... his minister and State
Secretary of Foreign Affairs ;

And His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary
and Bohemia, MM. Prince Cl^ment-Wenceslas-Lothaire von
Metternich-Winneburg-Ochsenhausen, Knight of the Golden
Fleece. . . . Chamberlain, Privy Counsellor, and State Minister
of the Conferences and Foreign Affairs of His Imperial and
Royal Apostolic Majesty, and Count Johan-Philippe von Stadion
Thannhausen and Warthausen, Knight of the Golden Fleece,
Chamberlain, Privy Counsellor, Minister of State, and of the
Conferences of His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty ;

These, after having exchanged their full powers, which were
found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon the
following articles :

Art I. — There shall be, from this day forth, between His
Majesty the King of France and of Navarre on the one side, and
His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and
Bohemia and his allies, on the other, between their heirs and
successors, and respective states and subjects, peace and friend-
ship for ever.

The high contracting powers shall bring every means to bear
to maintain, not only among themselves, but, as much as
possible, among all the states of Europe, a perfect harmony
and understanding, so essential to her repose.

Art. II. — The kingdom of France preserves the integrity of
its limits as they existed on January i, 1792. It will receive in

only triviaL At four o'clock the peace was signed. It is very good, nay, even noble
being based on the standard of the greatest equality, although France is still covered
with foreigners. My friends, and you at their head, ought to be content with me."

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 137

all an increase of territory comprised by the line of limits fixed
by the following article.

Art. III. — On the side of Belgium, of Germany, and of Italy,,
the former frontier, just as it existed on the first of January 1792
shall be re-established, commencing from the North Sea, between
Dunkirk and Newport, to the Mediterranean, between Cannes,
and Nice, with the following corrections :

1. In the department of Jemmapes, the cantons of Dour,
Merbes-le-Chateau, Beaumont, and Chimay, shall continue to
belong to France ; the line of demarkation shall pass there where
it touches the canton of Dour, between that canton and those of
Boussu and Paturage, as further on, between that of Merbes-le-
Chiteau and those of Binch and Thuin :

2. In the department of Sambre-et-Meuse, the cantons of
Valcourt, Florennes, Beauraing and G^dinne shall belong to.
France ; the line of demarkation, when it reaches that department,
shall follow the line which separates the above-mentioned districts
from the department of Jemmapes, and the remainder of that of
Sambre-et-Meuse.

3. In the department of the Moselle, the new line of demar-
kation, where it digresses from the old one, shall be formed by a
line to extend from Perle to Fremesdorf, and by that which
separates the canton of Tholey from the rest of the department
of the Moselle.

4. In the department of the Sarre, the cantons of Saarbruck
and of Arneval shall remain to France, as well as that portion
of Lebach which is situated in the middle of the line
extending along the borders of the villages of Herchenbach,
Ueberhofen, Hilsbach and Hall (leaving these different places
outside the French frontier), to the point where, near Ouerselle
(which belongs to France), the line which separates the districts,
of Arneval and of Ottweiler, touches that which separates those
of Arneval and of Lebach ; the frontier, on this side, shall be
formed by the line above designated, and afterwards by that
which separates the canton of Arneval from that of Bliecastel.

5. The fortress of Landau having formed before the year 1792
an isolated point in Germany, France preserves on that side of
her frontiers a part of the departments of Mont Tonnerre and of
the lower Rhine, in order to join the fortress of Landau and
its radius to the rest of the kingdom. The new line of demar-
kation in leaving the point where, near Obersteinbach, which
remains out of the limits of France, the frontier between the
department of the Moselle and that of Mont Tonnerre, reaches
the department of the lower Rhine, shall follow the line which
separates the cantons of Weissenbourg and of Bergzabern, on,

138 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

the side of France, from the cantons of Pirmasens, Dalm, and
Anweiler, on the side of Germany, to the point where these
limits, near the village of Wolmersheim, touch the old radius of
the fortress of Landau. From that radius, which remains as it was
in 1792, the new frontier shall follow the branch of the river
Queich, which, on leaving the radius near Queichheim (which
remains French) passes near the villages of Merlenheim, Knittels-
heim and Belheim (remaining equally French) to the Rhine,
which shall continue afterwards to form the boundary between
France and Germany.

As to the Rhine, the Thalweg ^zS\. constitute the limit, in such
a manner however that the changes which this river shall undergo
shall have no effect in the future on the ownership of the islands
found there. The status of possession of these islands shall be
re-established as it existed at the time of the signing of the
treaty of Lun6ville.

6. In the department of the Doubs, the frontier shall be recti-
fied in such a manner that it begin above Rangonniere near Lode,
and follow the crest of the Jura, between Cerneux-P^quignot and
the village of Fontenelles, to a peak in the Jura situated about
seven or eight thousand feet to the north-west of the village of
Brevine, where it shall again fall into the old French limits ;

7. In the department of the L6man, the frontiers between the
French territory, the country of Vaud, and the different portions
of the territory of the republic of Geneva (which shall form a
part of Switzerland) remain the same as they were before the
incorporation of Geneva into France. But the canton of Frangy,
that of Saint-Julien (with the exception of the part situated to
the north of a line extending from the point where the bank of
the river Laire enters near Chancy, the Genevan territory, along
the confines of Sesequin, Lacouex, and Seseneuve, which shall
remain outside the limits of France), the canton of Regnier (with
the exception of the portion which is found to the east of a line
which follows the confines of Muraz, Bussy, Pers and Cornier,
which shall be outside the French limits), and the canton of
Roche (with the exception of the places named Roche and
Armanoy with their cantons), shall remain French. The frontier
shall follow the limits of these different cantons and the lines
dividing those portions which remain French, from those which
she is not to preserve.

In the department of Mont-Blanc, France acquires the sub-
prefecture of Chamb^ry (except the cantons of I'Hopital, of
Saint-Pierre dAlbigny, of Rocette and of Montmelian), and the
sub-prefecture of Annecy (except the portion of the canton of
Faverge, situated to the east of a line which passes between

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 139

Ourechaise and Marlens on the French side, and Marthod and
Ugine from the opposite side, and which afterwards follows the
mountain crests to the frontier of the canton of Thones) : this
line with the boundary of the cantons mentioned shall, on that
side, form the new frontier.

On the Pyrenees side, the frontiers shall remain as they were
between the two kingdoms of France and Spain on January
I, 1792, and a joint commission shall at once be appointed by
the sovereigns of the two realms, in order to fix the final
line of demarkation.

France renounces all rights of sovereignty, suzerainty
and possession of all the countries and districts, villages and
places of every description, situated outside the frontier desig-
nated above, the principality of Monaco, nevertheless, re-
assuming the position it occupied on the 1st of January, 1792.^

The allied courts insure to France the possession of the
principality of Avignon, of the Comtat Venaissin, of the
county of Montbdliard, and of all the districts situated in French
territory and formerly belonging to Germany, and comprised in
the above-mentioned frontier, whether they were annexed to
France before or after January i, 1792.

The powers reserve to themselves reciprocally the entire
right of fortifying such parts of their dominions as they shall
deem fit for their security.

In order to avoid all damage to private property, and to pro-
tect, after the most liberal principles, the estates of individuals
living on the frontiers, there shall be appointed by each of the
states adjacent to France commissioners, to proceed conjointly
with the French commissioners in the demarkations of the
frontiers of the respective countries.

As soon as the commissioners' work shall be finished, maps
shall be drawn and signed by the respective commissioners, and
frontier posts put up to indicate the respective limits.

Art. IV. — In order to insure the communications of the
city of Geneva with the other parts of Switzerland situated on
the lake, France consents to the Versoy road being used by the
inhabitants of both countries. The respective governments
shall come to some amicable agreement as to the means of
preventing smuggling, and of regulating the postal seivice, and
the keeping of the Versoy road in repair.

Art. V. — Navigation on the Rhine from the point where it

^ The principality of Monaco was, before the Revolution, under the protectorate of
France (treaty of Peronne, 1641). In 1793, it had been annexed by France. The
treaty of 1814 re-established her independence, whilst maintaining the French protect-
orate ; but in 1815, France lost that right, which was attributed to Sardinia, who kept
it until i860.

I40 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

becomes navigable, to the sea, as well as from the sea to that
point, shall be free, so that no one shall be forbidden to use
it ; and, at the future congress, the principles by which the tolls
to be raised by the bordering states may be arranged in a
manner most equitable and favourable for the commerce of all
nations shall be decided.

It shall likewise be examined and decided at the future
congress how, in order that communications may be facilitated
between neighbouring nations, and they be rendered less foreign
to one another, the above provision may be equally extended
to all the other rivers which in their navigable course separate,
or cross, different states.

Art. VI. — Holland being placed under the sovereignty of
the House of Orange, shall receive an increase of territory. The
title and the exercise of sovereignty in that country can in no
case belong to a prince wearing a foreign crown.

The States of Germany shall be independent and united by
a federal link.

Switzerland, independent, shall continue to govern herself.

Italy, outside the limits which shall become Austrian, shall
be composed of sovereign states.

Art. VII. — The island of Malta and its dependencies shall
belong to His Britannic Majesty as sole sovereign and possessor.

Art. VIII. — His Britannic Majesty, stipulating for himself
and his allies, agrees to restore to His Most Christian Majesty, in
a term hereafter to be fixed, the colonies, fisheries, factories,
and establishments of every kind that France possessed on
January i, 1792, in the seas and on the continents of America,
Africa, and Asia, with the exception of the islands of Tobago
and of Saint Lucia, and of the island of France and its depend-
encies, namely Rodriguez and the Seychelles, which His Most
Christian Majesty yields to His Britannic Majesty as sole
sovereign and owner, as also the portion of San-Domingo, ceded
to France by the treaty of Basel, and which His Most Christian
Majesty returns to His Catholic Majesty as sole sovereign and
owner.

Art. IX. — His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, in
consequence of arrangements made with his allies, and to further
the execution of the preceding article, agrees that the island of
Guadaloupe be restored to His Most Christian Majesty, and
foregoes all the rights he possesses to that island.^

Art. X. — His Most Faithful Majesty, in consequence of
arrangements made with his allies, and in view of facilitating

^ The English had taken Guadaloupe and ceded it to Sweden (Art. IV. of the treaty
of March 3, 18 13).

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 141

the execution of Art. VIII., binds himself to restore to His
Most Christian Majesty, in the terms hereafter fixed, French
Guiana, as it existed on Jan. i, 1792.^

The effect of the above stipulation being to revive the
contest, existing at that time, as to the limits of the adjacent
territories, it is agreed that this contest shall be settled by
amicable arrangement between the two courts, under the
mediation of His Britannic Majesty.^

Art. XI. — The strongholds and forts existing in the colonies,
and the establishments which are to be returned to His Most
Christian Majesty by virtue of the Articles VIII., IX., and X.,
shall be handed over in the state in which they shall be at the
time of the signing of the present treaty.

Art. XII. — His Britannic Majesty binds himself to take all
necessary measures that the subjects of His Most Christian
Majesty may enjoy, as regards their commercial pursuits, and the
safety of their persons and property within the limits of British
sovereignty on the continent of India, the same facilities,
privileges, and protection which exist at present, or which
shall hereafter be accorded to the most favoured nations. On
his part. His Most Christian Majesty, having nothing more at
heart than to insure lasting peace between the two crowns of
France and England, and wishing to contribute, as much as
possible, henceforward, towards the removal from the intercourse
of the inhabitants of the two kingdoms, of all that might
some day alter the mutual good understanding now happily
existing between them, binds himself to raise no fortifications
in the settlements which shall be restored to him, and which
are situated in the limits of British Sovereignty on the continent
of India, and to place in those settlements only such troops
as shall be necessary as police forces.

Art. XIII. — As to the fishing rights of France on the great
bank of Newfoundland, on the coasts of the island of that name,
and of the adjacent islands, and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, all
shall be put again on the same footing as in 1792.

Art. XIV. — The colonies, factories, and settlements which
are to be restored to His Most Christian Majesty, by His
Britannic Majesty, or his allies, shall be returned, viz. : those
which are situated in the North Sea, or on the oceans, or on
the continent of America and of Africa, within three months,
and those that are beyond the Cape of Good Hope, within six
months, from the ratification of the present treaty.

1 The Portuguese had taken French Guiana at the beginning of hostilities, in 1809.

2 It is well known that this question of boundaries has never been definitely-
settled ; to this day it is in suspense between France and Brazil.

142 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Art. XV. — The high contracting powers having reserved to
themselves, by Art. IV. of the convention of last April 23rd, to
settle, in the present definite treaty of peace, the ownership of
the arsenals and vessels of war, armed or unarmed, which may
be found in the seaports returned by France in execution of
Art. II. of the said convention, it is agreed that the said men of
war and ships, armed or unarmed, as also the naval artillery
and naval ammunition, and all the shipbuilding materials and
arms, shall be divided between France and the countries in which
the above-mentioned seaports are situated, in the proportion of
two-thirds for France, and of one-third for the powers to which
the said seaports are to be ceded.

Shall be considered, six weeks after the signing of the
present treaty, as naval materials and divided as such, in the
above-mentioned proportion, after having been previously de-
molished, all unfinished war-vessels and ships in dock, which
shall not be in a sufficiently forward state to be sent to sea.

Commissioners shall be appointed on either side to proceed
with the division, and to draw up a statement thereof; pass-
ports, or safe conducts, shall also be given by the allied powers
to enable to return to France all French workmen, sailors, and
others employed in her service.

Shall not be comprised in the above stipulations, the vessels
and arsenals existing in the seaports which shall have been
captured by the allies prior to the 23rd of April, nor the vessels
and arsenals which belong to Holland, not excepting the fleet
of the Texel.

The government of France binds itself to remove, or to have
sold, within the delay of three months after the division shall
have taken place, everything which may be awarded to it, by
reason of the aforesaid stipulations.

Henceforth the port of Antwerp shall be solely a commercial
port.

Art. XVI. — The high contracting powers wishing to consign
to oblivion and to destroy all records of the quarrels which have
disturbed Europe, hereby declare and promise, that in the coun-
tries restored and ceded by the present treaty, no individual of
any class or condition shall be prosecuted, disturbed, or inter-
fered with, in his person or his property, under any pretext,
nor on account of any conduct or political opinion, nor of any
attachment, either to any of the contracting powers, or to
governments that have ceased to exist, nor for any other
reason, except for debts to private individuals, or for deeds
committed subsequently to the present treaty.

Art. XVII. — In all countries which will now, or in the

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE—THE RESTORATION. 145,

future, change masters, either in accordance with the present
treaty, or by reason of the arrangements which are to be made
in consequence of it, all foreign and native residents of whatever
condition or nation, shall be allowed a delay of six years, to be
reckoned from the exchange of ratifications, wherein to dispose,
if they deem fit, of whatever property they may have acquired
either before, or since, the breaking out of the present war, and
wherein to go to whatever country they please.

Art. XVIII. — The allied powers being anxious to give to His
Most Christian Majesty a new testimony of their desire to
obliterate as far as lies in their power, the consequences of the
period of calamity so happily ended by the present peace,
forego all claims to whatever sums their various governments
may be entitled to by reason of contracts, supplies, or advances of
any description, made to the French government in the course
of the various wars which have taken place since 1792.

In his turn. His Most Christian Majesty foregoes all claims
France might bring forward for similar reasons against the
allied powers. In execution of this article the high contracting
powers promise to mutually return to each other all bonds,
deeds, and documents relative to the debts and claims which
they have each and all foregone.

Art. XIX. — The French government undertakes to discharge,
and pay, the sums which it may owe in addition in countries
situated beyond French territory by reason of contracts or
other agreements, passed expressly between individuals, or
private establishments, and the French authorities, representing
the price of supplies or any other legal claims.

Art. XX. — The high contracting powers shall, immediately
after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty,
appoint commissioners to regulate and assist in the execution of
the whole of the provisions contained in Articles XVIII. and
XIX. These commissioners shall examine the claims which
have been mentioned in the preceding article, draw up the
statements of the amounts claimed, and indicate the means by
which the French government shall propose to settle its debts.
They shall also be empowered to hand over all bonds, deeds,
and documents relative to the claims mutually foregone by the
high contracting powers, in such a way that the ratification of
the results of their work shall complete the mutual renunciation.
Art. XXI. — The debts originally mortgaged on countries
which now cease to belong to France, or which were contracted
by her for their internal administration, shall be chargeable to
those countries. The French government therefore shall be
indemnified from Dec. 22, 18 13, for all such debts, if they have

144 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

been registered in the grand ledger of the public debt of France.
The deeds of all those which have been prepared for registra-
tion, and have not yet been registered, shall be handed over to
the governments of the respective countries to which they
belong. The statements of all these debts shall be drawn up
by a commission composed of plenipotentiaries appointed by all
the states concerned.

Art. XXII. — The French government shall, on the other hand,
be called upon to refund all sums deposited by the subjects of the
above-mentioned countries in the French treasury, whether as
security, deposit, or guarantee. French subjects in the service
of the said countries, who have deposited sums as security,
deposits, or consignments in the respective treasuries of those
countries, shall likewise be faithfully repaid.

Art. XXIII. — Holders of official appointments subject to
security, but who do not have the management of public
moneys, shall be reimbursed with interest, until repaid in full
at Paris, a fifth of the whole sum due to them being paid to
them every year, the first of such payments to begin from the date
of the present treaty. As regards officials entrusted with the
management of public moneys, reimbursement shall begin at
the latest, six months after the presentation of their accounts,
the case of embezzlement being excepted. A copy of the last
account shall be laid before the government of their country,
to serve as information and as a point of departure.

Art. XXIV. — The judiciary deposits and consignments,
placed in the sinking funds, in execution of the law of the 28th
of Nivose xiii. (i8th of January, 1805), and which belong to
the inhabitants of the countries which France has ceased to
possess, shall be replaced, within the term of one year, counting
from the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty,
in the hands of the authorities of the said countries, with the
exception of those deposits and consignments that may interest
French subjects ; in which case, they shall remain in the sinking
fund, to be replaced only on authorizations, resulting from the
decisions of competent authorities.

Art. XXV. — The funds deposited by parishes and public
establishments with the government cashiers, and in the sinking
fund, or in any other bank of the government, shall be reim-
bursed to them by a fifth, year by year, from the time of the
present treaty, with the deduction of the advances that may
have been made them, and with the exception of the legal
attachments made on the funds by the said creditors, that is
to say the parishes and the public establishments.

Art. XXVI. — Dating from January i, 18 14, the French

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 145

government ceases to be responsible for the payment of all
civil pensions, whether military or ecclesiastical, for the balance
of pensions, and for the half-pay of officers, to all individuals who
are no longer French subjects.

Art. XXVII. — National estates acquired by purchase by
French subjects in the departments formerly belonging to
Belgium, on the left bank of the Rhine, and in the Alps, out-
side the old French limits, are, and shall, remain the property of
the purchasers.

Art. XXVIII. — The abolition of the rights of escheatage, of
detraction, and others of the same nature, in the countries which
have mutually stipulated for it with France, or which have been
previously united to her, is expressly maintained.^

Art. XXIX. — The French government promises to restore
the bonds and other deeds that may have been seized in
provinces occupied by French armies or French administrations,
and, in the case in which this restitution cannot be effected,
these bonds and deeds are, and shall remain null and void.

Art. XXX. — The sums which may be due for all public works,
not yet terminated, or that were terminated since December 31,
18 1 2, on the Rhine, and in the departments detached from
France by the present treaty, shall pass to the charge of the
future possessors of the territory, and shall be liquidated by
the commission charged with the liquidation of the countries'
debts.

Art. XXXI. — The archives, maps, and documents of every
description appertaining to the ceded countries, or referring to
their administration, shall be faithfully restored at the same time
as the countries, or, if this be impossible, within a delay that
shall not exceed six months after the restitution of the
countries themselves.

This stipulation is applicable to the archives, maps, and
plans, that may have been taken into countries temporarily
occupied by the different armies.

Art. XXXII. — Within the delay of two months, all the
powers that have been engaged, on either side, in the present
war, shall send plenipotentiaries to Vienna, to regulate, in

^ The right of escheatage, as it existed under old French law constituted the
sovereign the heir of all foreigners who died in France. But numerous treaties
concluded with almost all the powers of Europe had, more especially during the
eighteenth century, simply and solely abolished this right in all cases of re-
ciprocity, or replaced it by one of simple detraction, which only left the king
a part of the inheritance (from a quarter to a twentieth.) The National As-
sembly entirely abolished both rights (by the decree of August 6, 1790, and
April IS, and 28, 1791)- A law of July 14, 1819, confirmed and completed
this reform, which certain provisions of the Code Civil (Art. 726 and 912) seemed
to modify.

VOL. II. L

THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

a general congress the arrangements that are necessary to
complete the dispositions of the present treaty.

Art. XXXIII. — The present treaty shall be ratified, and the
ratifications shall be exchanged, within the delay of fifteen days„
or sooner if possible.

In witness whereof .

Paris, May 30, 1814.

The Prince de BiNEVENX.
The Prince von Metternich.
The Count von Stadion.

Additional Article. — The high contracting parties,
wishing to eradicate all traces of the unhappy events which have
weighed upon their peoples, have agreed to annul all effects of
the treaties of 1 805 and 1 809, in so far as they are not already
annulled by the present treaty ; in consequence of this determina-
tion. His Most Christian Majesty, promises that the decrees
existing against French subjects, or those reported to be so, who
either are, or have been, in the service of His Imperial and Royal
Apostolic Majesty, shall remain without effect, as well as the
decisions that may have been put into execution in consequence
of these decrees.

The present additional article shall have the same force and
value as though it were inserted word for word in the open
treaty of this day. . . .

The same day, in the same place, and at the same time, the

same treaty of definite peace, was concluded
Between France and Russia,
Between France and Great Britain,
Between France and Prussia,

with the following additional articles : —

Additional Article to the Treaty with Russia.

The Duchy of Warsaw, being under the administration of
a provisory council, established by Russia, since that country
has been occupied by her armies, the two high contracting parties
have agreed to name a special commission immediately, composed
on both sides of an equal number of commissioners, who shall be
employed with the examination, liquidation, and all other
arrangements relative to the reciprocal claims.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 147

Additional Articles to the Treaty with Great

Britain.

Art I. — His Most Christian Majesty, sharing without
reserve all the sentiments of His Britannic Majesty, relative to a
class of commerce which is repugnant, both to the principles of
justice, and the enlightenment of the times in which we live,
promises to unite in a future congress all his efforts with those
of His Britannic Majesty, to induce all the Christian powers 'to
pronounce the abolition of the slave-trade, in such a manner
that the said trade shall universally cease, as it shall cease, in
any case, on the part of France, within five years ; and that,
moreover, during this interval, no trader shall import or sell
slaves anywhere, except in the colonies of the state of which
he is a subject.

Art. n. — The French and British governments shall imme-
diately appoint commissioners to ascertain their respective ex-
penses for the maintenance of their prisoners, in order to agree
as to the best means of settling the balance Vhich may occur in
favour of the one or other of the two powers.

Art. HI. — The respective prisoners of war shall be bound
down to pay, before their departure from the place of their
detention, any private debts they may have contracted there, or
to give at least satisfactory security.

Art. IV. — Both sides shall, immediately after the ratification
of the present treaty of peace, agree to the replevin of the
escheatment which may have been applied since the year 1792,
to the funds, revenues, credits, and other effects whatsoever,
of the high contracting parties, or their subjects. The same
commissioners, of whom mention is made in Article II., shall
occupy themselves with the examination, and settlement of
the claims of the subjects of His Britannic Majesty on the
French government, for the value of goods, movable or not, that
may have been unduly confiscated by the French authorities,
as well as for the total or partial loss of their credits or other
property unduly retained by the escheatment since the year 1792.

France engages to treat, in this respect, all English subjects
with the same justice that French subjects have experienced
in England, and the English government, desirous to concur for
its part in the fresh token that the allied powers have deter-
mined to give His Most Christian Majesty of their desire to
blot out the consequences of that troubled epoch, so happily
terminated by the present peace, promises on its side to
renounce, from the time complete justice shall have been rendered
to its subjects, any excess which shall be found in its favour,

L 2

148 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

relative to the maintenance of the war prisoners, in such a manner
that the ratification of the result of the work of the commissioners
herein mentioned, and the acquittal of the sums, as well as
the restitution of the effects which shall be pronounced be-
long to subjects of His Britannic Majesty, shall complete
its renunciation.

Art. V. — The two high contracting parties, desiring to
establish the most amicable relations between their respective
subjects, promise to agree as soon as possible upon an arrange-
ment for their commercial interests, with the intention of
encouraging and increasing the prosperity of their respective
states.

The present additional articles shall have the same force and
value

Additional Article to the Treaty with Prussia.

Though the treaty of peace concluded at Basel, April 5,
179S, that of Tilsit, July 9, 1807, the Paris Convention, Septem-
ber 20, 1808, as well as all conventions and acts whatsoever
concluded since the peace of Basel between Prussia and France,
be already annulled according to the present treaty, the high
contracting powers have nevertheless thought fit to expressly
declare that the said treaties cease to be obligatory in all their
articles, open as well as secret, and that they mutually renounce
all rights, and hold themselves free from any obligation that can
result from them.

His Most Christian Majesty promises that the decrees aimed
at French subjects, or those reported as such, who either
are, or have been, in the service of His Prussian Majesty, shall
remain without effect, as well as any decisions which may have
been given in the execution of these decrees.

The present additional article shall have the same force and
value. . .

The enumeration of all that relates to the open treaty of
May 30, 1 8 14, would not be complete, if I did not also insert
here the separate and secret articles of that treaty, to which
I was obliged to consent, and which formed perhaps the most
unfortunate part of the negotiations that the French plenipo-
tentiaries would have to follow at the future congress. Those
articles were only communicated to me, and I did not put my
signature to them.

the fall of the empire— the restoration. 149

Separate and Secret Articles of the Treaty of Paris
OF May 30, 1 8 14.

The disposition of the territories which His Most Christian
Majesty foregoes, by Art. III. of the open treaty of this day,
and the future relations of the various states from which there
is to result a system of real and durable equilibrium in Europe,
shall be regulated at the congress on a basis agreed upon
between the allied powers, and in compliance with the general
provisions contained in the following article : —

Art. I. — The establishment of a just equilibrium in Europe,
demanding that Holland be strong enough to be able to maintain
her independence by her own means, therefore the countries
included between the sea, the frontiers of France, such as they
are determined by the present treaty, and the Meuse, shall be
united to Holland for ever.

Art. H. — The frontiers of the right bank of the Meuse shall
be determined according to the military convenience of Holland
and her neighbours.

Art. HI. — The right of navigation on the Scheldt shall be
established on the same principle as that of navigation on the
Rhine, as stipulated for in Art. V. of the open treaty of to-day.

Art. IV. — The German countries on the left bank of the
Rhine which have been united to France since 1792 shall
serve for the aggrandisement of Holland and for the compen-
sation of Prussia and other German states.

When I think of the date of these treaties of 18 14, of the
difficulties of every kind that I experienced, and of the spirit
of vengeance that I encountered in some of the negotiators with
whom I treated, and whom I had to thwart, I await with
confidence the judgment that posterity shall pass upon me.
I shall simply call attention to the fact that, six weeks after the
king's entrance into Paris, France's territory was secured, the
foreign soldiers had quitted French soil, and, by the return of
the garrisons of foreign fortresses and of the prisoners, she
possessed a superb army, and finally that we had preserved all
the admirable works of art carried off by our armies from nearly
all the museums of Europe.

If new disasters overwhelmed France in 18x5, and caused
her to lose the benefits of the treaties of 1814, it is again
Napoleon alone who was guilty, and who deserved the

150 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

execration of his country for drawing upon it irretrievable
calamities.

The treaty of Paris, by depriving France of those immense
countries that conquest had previously placed in her hands,
rendered ulterior arrangements for disposing of those territories,
indispensable. Several sovereigns, for instance, the King of
Sardinia,^ the Elector of Hanover,^ that of Hesse-Cassel,^ had
resumed possession of the states that had been taken from them
in the war, as soon as those states were evacuated. But the
fate of many of the countries released from France remained
to be decided. That of the King of Saxony, towards whom the
allied powers displayed implacable hatred because of his fidelity
to the cause of Napoleon, had also to be pronounced upon, and
that of the Duchy of Warsaw, taken, not by France, but by her
ally, the King of Saxony, and finally, that of the realm of
Naples, that the policy of France, as well as the will of Louis
XVIII., unmovable on that point, could evidently not leave
in the hands of Murat.

It has been noticed, that by the treaty, it had been agreed
that all the measures to be taken should be arranged at a congress,
to meet at Vienna. One of the stipulations of the treaty was
that Holland, placed under the sovereignty of the House of
Orange, should receive an increase of territory that could be taken
only from Belgium ; it was the result of a promise made by
England, who wished to have the port of Antwerp under her
control, and to prevent its becoming a military port. The King
of Sardinia was also to receive an increase of territory taken
from the former state of Genoa, for Napoleon, like the allied
cabinets, no longer thought of re-establishing the old republics,
shaken, or already destroyed, by the French Republic.

The states of Germany which had survived the dissolution of

^ Victor-Emanuel I., second son of Victor Amadeus III., was bom in 1759 ; he
succeeded, 1802, his brother Charles-Emmanuel, who had abdicated. Until 1814, he
reigned only on the island of Sardinia. Having then recovered his states, he reigned
until 1821, was then obliged to abdicate in consequence of an insurrection, ceded the
throne to his brother Charles- Felix, and died in 1824.

2 George III. King of England, recovered, in 1814, his electorship of Hanover,
which was formed into a kingdom and increased by various territories.

' William IX., Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel and Elector in 1801, was dispossesed in
1806 ; in 1814 his estates and his title of elector were returned to him. He died in
1821.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 151

the German Empire, and those of Italy (with the exception of
the countries which belonged to the Emperor of Austria), which
had become independent, were to continue so. For the rest, the
treaty determined nothing as to the other divisions and appor-
tioning of territories. It simply stipulated that territorial and
other arrangements should be made to secure a real and durable
equilibrium. These words real and durable' equilibrium' y^&xQ
very vague, and could not fail to open up a vast field for discus-
sion, the issue of which it was impossible to foresee. For neither
the direction that the negotiations were to take at the Congress,
nor the spirit that would preside over its deliberations, had been
determined beforehand in accordance with fixed principles.
Whatever points had been decided, were so, by clauses relative
to particular cases.

In such a state of things, the part France had to play was sin-
gularly difficult. It was very tempting and very easy for cabinets
embittered for such a long time to refuse to admit her to a council
discussing the great interests of Europe. By the treaty of Paris,
France had escaped destruction ; but she had not resumed, in
the system of general politics, the rank she is called upon to
occupy. Experienced eyes could easily discover in several of
the principal plenipotentiaries, the secret desire to reduce her to
playing a secondary part ; and the secret articles of the treaty pro-
vided that the territories re-taken from France should be divided
between the powers, that is to say, to the exclusion of France.
If then France did not herself point out, at the very opening of
the congress, the place ascribed to her by the recollection of her
power, and by the transitory generosity of some of the allied
sovereigns, she would have to submit to remaining for a long
time to come, a stranger to the transactions of Europe, and
to being exposed to the effect of the alliances which her
success, which she had so much abused, had brought about and
which jealousy could renew. In a word, she would lose the hope
of tracing, between the empire of Napoleon and the Restoration,
that deep line of demarkation which would prevent the cabinets
of Europe from requiring regenerated France to account for the
violence and the excesses of revolutionary France.

It required a negotiator well convinced of the importance

152 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

of the circumstances, well penetrated with the means that had
contributed to the changes brought about in France, and in
a position to speak a firm and true language to the cabinets,
whom it was difficult to induce to forget the fact of their being
victorious. It required, above all, of the French plenipotentiary
that he be impressed with, and impress the fact, that France de-
sired only what she possessed ; that she had frankly repudiated
the heritage of conquest ; that she thought herself strong enough
in her old boundaries ; that she had no intention of extending
them ; that, finally, she to-day placed her glory in her modera-
tion ; but that, if she wished her voice to be heeded in Europe,
it was in order to be able to defend the rights of others, against
all kinds of trespass.

I did not see among all the men who had held office any who
seemed to me to possess the conditions necessary to suitably fill
that mission. The emigres who had returned with the king had
remained strangers to general politics ; the men who were
partisans of the fallen government could not yet understand the
interests and position of the newly revived monarchy. I looked
upon the post of French plenipotentiary at Vienna, as a very
difficult one to fill. I have never known one more honourable.

It was in fact, the duty of the plenipotentiary to complete the
work of the restoration, by ensuring the solidity of the edifice that
Providence had permitted to be reconstructed. I believed I pos-
sessed the right, and I regarded it as a duty to claim that post.
The king did not allow me to finish the request that I was about
to put to him, and he interrupted me by saying, " Draw me up a
project for your instructions." I thanked him, and begged him to
appoint with me the Due de Dalberg, whom I wished to distin-
guish, and for whom I had a friendship, and whom moreover, by
his birth, by his family relations in Germany, and by his ability,
would be, for me a useful co-operator.

At the end of a few days, I was able to place before the
king, the project of instructions, that he had asked me for. He
approved of it, and I believe that when the instructions, that
I give farther on, are known, France will take a pride in the
sovereign who signed them.

To accompany me, I chose from the Department of Foreign

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 15.3

Affairs, the faithful and clever La Besnardiere, whom 1 regard as
the most distinguished man who has appeared in the ministry of
Foreign Affairs for a great many years. I gave him as assistants
MM. Challaye, Formond ^ and Perrey, all three young, and
possessing aptitudes that would enable them to profit by the
lessons that could be learned in such great circumstances.

I afterwards sought in society for two more persons whom I
could attach to the French Legation at Vienna. In my choice,
I studied Paris, that is to say, the Tuileries, more than Vienna,
because, at Paris, 1 had to check all the would-be diplomats who
surrounded the princes, and whom I wished to believe that they
were (without my being aware of it, though without any risk to
my mission) acquainted with my movements ; for, as to Vienna
and France, I depended upon myself. It is thus, that the Comte
Alexis de Noailles^ and the Marquis de la Tour du Pin
Gouvernet* were associated with the Due de Dalberg and
myself as plenipotentiaries at the congress at Vienna.

It appeared to me also, that it was necessary to shake off
the hostile prejudice with which imperial France had inspired
the high and influential society of Vienna. For that it was
necessary to make the French embassy attractive. I then
asked my niece, the Cotmtesse de P^rigord, to accompany me
and do the honours of my house. By her superior intellect

^ M. de Formond was employed in the cipher department of the Seal office. He
became consul afterwards and resided in that capacity at Bucharest (1815), at Cagliari
(1817), at Livoma (1830). Heretired on a pension in 1840.

2 Alexis, Comte de Noailles, son of Louis-Marie, Viscomte de Noailles, was bom
in 1783. In 1809, he was arrested as guilty of having given publicity to the pope's
bull of excommunication against the emperor. Having been set at liberty a short time
after, he emigrated in 181 1, went to Switzerland, afterwards to Stockholm, and finally
toEngland, where he joined Louis XVIH. He fought in the campaign of 1813 as Eer-
nadotte's aide-de-camp, and served likewise in the enemy's ranks in 1814. He then
became aide-de-camp to the Comte d' Artois and followed Prince Talleyrand to Vienna.
Ini8l5, he was elected deputy of the Oise and of the Rhone, and appointed state
minister and member of the privy council. He was always elected until 1830, when he
retired into private life. He died in 1835.

' Frederic, Marquis de la Tour du Pin Gouvemet, bom in 1758, was the son of
the Comte de la Tour du Pin, who was a deputy at the States-General, Minister of
War in 1789, and guillotined in 1794. The former was colonel at the outbreak of the
Revolution, and was appointed Minister at the Hague. Having been recalled in 1792,
he emigrated, returned to France under the Consulate, and became frefet of Amiens
and of Brussels. He accompanied M. de Talleyrand to Vienna, was afterwards
appointed again Minister at the Hague, and sent later in that capacity to the King of
Sardinia. He retired in 1830, and died in 1837.

154 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

and tact, she knew how to attract and please, and proved very
useful to me.

At Vienna, it was necessary to have France use different
language from that which people had been accustomed to
hear from her for the last twenty years. Nor was it less
necessary that the dignity that she should display should be
expressed with nobleness, even with brilliancy. The part of
self-resignation, so new to her, and that had been imposed upon
her by Napoleon's faults, could, in my opinion, scarcely be
deprived of grandeur, and should even give weight to the
observations that I might be called upon to make in the
interest of right and justice. It was therefore, because of the
aid which she could afford in supporting weak powers, that I
endeavoured to place her, from the outset, in a worthy and
honourable situation.

It is thus easy to guess that difficulties sufficiently serious
awaited me at Vienna, for no other answer to be needed to the
reproach made me for having left Paris at the time when the
government, being badly advised, might follow an imprudent
course, delay thereby its consolidation, and damp the sentiments
that had been displayed on the king's arrival. And besides,
one must first do that which one knows how to do, and in this
I undertook a task, in which I felt confident of success. And, I
would ask of all honest people, was it natural to believe that,
instead of exerting every effort not to revive recollections which
it was necessary to consign to oblivion, and of banishing all
appearances of an arbitrary will, the new government would apply
itself only to do the reverse } The truth is, I confess, that I had
not expected such blindness. I should never have believed that
Abb6 de Montesquiou, who had most influence, would have
employed it so badly.

The Czar Alexander very soon showed how astonished he
was at the course being followed in the internal affairs of France.
It was one more obstacle. He received his impressions from
the most ardent Liberals, whom he was accustomed to see.
After his departure for England, from whence he intended to
return to Paris, I believed it my duty to write him the follow-

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 155

ing letter. It probably caused him to make certain reflections,
if he found it again in his pocket-book ^ in 1823 : —

From the Prince de Ben^vent to the Czar Alexander.

Paris, /««£ 13, 1814.
Sire,

I did not see your Majesty before your departure, and I
take the liberty of reproaching you for it with the sincere
respect of my most affectionate attachment.

Sire, important relations disclosed to you my most secret
sentiments a long time ago. Your esteem was the result of
such disclosure. It comforted me for many years, and enabled
me to bear painful ordeals. I foresaw your destiny, and felt
that I could. Frenchman though I am, associate myself some
day with your projects, because they would never cease to be
magnanimous. You have completely accomplished that grand
destiny ; seeing that I followed you in your noble career, do not
deprive me of my recompense. I ask it from the hero of my
fancy, and, dare I add, of my heart.

You have saved France. Your entrance into Paris has
been the signal for the end of despotism ; whatever be your
secret observations, if you were again called there, what you
have already done you would do again, for you could not fail
in your glory, even if you were to believe the monarchy disposed
to assume a little more authority than you think necessary,
and the French people to neglect to look to their independence.
After all, what are we yet .? And who can flatter himself, after
such a catastrophe, that he understands in a short time the cha-
racter of the French .■' Do not doubt it, sire, the king whom you
have brought back to us, shall be obliged, if he would give us
useful institutions, to take certain precautions, and to seek in
his faithful memory what we were formerly, in order to judge
what will really suit us. Having swerved from our national
customs owing to a gloomy oppression, we shall for long seem
foreign to the government that shall be given us.

The French in general, were, and will be, somewhat fickle in
their impressions ; they will always be ready to make them
known because a secret instinct tells them that they are not
-to last long. This versatility will lead them very soon to place
an unlimited confidence in their sovereign, and ours will not
abuse that confidence.

In France, the king iSis always come before the country. It

1 I have ascertained that the original of this letter is still (1857) to be found in the
imperial archives at Saint Petersburg.— (.a/, de Bacourt.)

1S6 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

seems to us that the country is represented by the one man. We
have no national pride, but a vast amount of vanity, which, well
regulated, produces a deep sentiment of individual honour. Our
opinions, or rather our tastes, have often directed our kings
(Bonaparte would have shed French blood with more impunity,
if he had not tried to oppress us by his gloomy manners).
The forms and manners of our sovereigns have in turn
fascinated our own, and from that mutual action there shall
result for us a method of governing and of obeying which, after
all, might eventually deserve the name of constitution. The
king has long studied our history. He knows us, he knows
how to give a royal character to all that proceeds from him ;
and when we shall have become ourselves again, we shall resume
that truly French custom of adapting to ourselves the actions
and qualities of our king. Besides, liberal principles are keep-
ing pace with the spirit of the age. We cannot fail to reach
that point ; and if your Majesty will place confidence in my
word, I will promise you that we shall have a monarchy blended
with liberty; that you shall witness men of merit welcomed
and honoured in France; and it will be your glory to have
made the happiness of our country.

Sire, I confess that you saw many discontented persons
in Paris ; but if we put aside the quickness of the past revolu-
tion, and the surprise of so many passions all stirred at the
same time, what is Paris after all but a city of officials } The
cessation of official appointments alone warned the Parisians of
the despotism of Napoleon. If the government had continued
paying people in places, it is in vain that the provinces would have
groaned under tyranny. The provinces really constitute France ;
there they really hail the return of the House of Bourbon, and
proclaim your happy victory.

Your Majesty will pardon the length of my letter. It was
indispensable in order to reply to the greatest portion of your
generous anxieties ; it will replace a verbal explanation that I
should so much like to have given you. General Pozzo,^ whom

' Charles- Andre, Corate Pozzo di Borgo, bom near Ajaccio, in 1764. Was at
first intimate with Napoleon in his youth ; but they fell out in the course of the civil
outbreaks of Corsica, and this was the beginning of an enmity which continued during
their lives. In 1791, Pozzo was elected deputy of Corsica at the legislative assembly.
Having returned to Corsica in 1792, he was in the following year called to office with
Paoli, by his fellow citizens. Corsica having momentarily submitted to England,
Pozzo was president of the State Council and Secretary of State. He was obliged
to emigrate in 1796, went to London, then to Vienna, and, in 1803, entered the
Russian service as a diplomat. He returned to Austria after Tilsit, went from there
to England (1809), and negotiated a reconciliation between London and St.
Petersburg. He had a considerable influence over the events of 1812 and 1813. In
1814, he accompanied the Czar Alexander to Paris, was appointed Russian am-
bassador to France, entrusted with numerous diplomatic missions, and attended

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 157

I see every day, and whom I cannot thank you enough, sire, for
having left with us, shall look to our interests and warn us,
for we sometimes need to be warned. I shall discuss with him
our national interests ; and if, as I hope, your Majesty honours
France with a short visit, upon his return, he will tell you, and
. you will yourself see, that I have not deceived you.

Another confidant, one only, has received the secret of my
grief, I mean the Duchess of Courland, whom you honour with
your kindness and who so well understands my anxiety. When
we shall have the happiness of seeing you again, I shall leave
it to her to tell you how grieved I have been, and she will
also tell you that I did not deserve to be so.

May, sire, your generous soul have a little patience ! A really
good Frenchman as I am, permit me to ask of you, in the old
French language, to allow us to resume the former accoutu-
'mance ^ of love for our kings ; it is certainly not yours to
refuse to understand the influence of that sentiment on a great
nation.

Please deign to accept, sire, with your usual kindness, the
homage of the profound respect with which I am, sire, your
Majesty's most humble, obedient servant.

Prince de Ben^vent.

Instructions for the King's Ambassadors at the
Congress.

No assembly invested with powers can do anything legiti-
mate unless it be legitimately constituted, and consequently,
unless none of those who have a right to be there be excluded
therefrom, and none of those who have not such right be ad-
mitted. Let it confine itself scrupulously to its province, and
proceed according to prescribed rules, or failing such rules,
according to those which may be drawn from the purpose for
which it was constituted, and from the nature of things. It is
the nature of things to fix the order in which it is indispensable
to regulate them, by the various degrees of connection of de-
pendence that it places between different objects, seeing that a
subordinate question cannot be treated and decided before
that upon which it depends. Finally the most legitimate and
wisest acts would be useless and fail in their object if, for
want of means of execution, they were not enforced.

all the congresses of the Holy Alliance. In 1835 he became ambassador at London,
resigned in 1839, and died in 1843. ... ,

» An old French expression, now obsolete, meanmg what one is wont to do.—

(Translator.')

IS8 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

It is then most necessary that the congress should determine
first of all,

1. Which are the states which may send plenipotentiaries.

2. What subjects should or might be settled there.

3. By what means they can be settled, if by decision or
arbitration, or by means of negotiations, or again partly by both
these means, and the cases in which each of those means should
be employed.

4. In cases in which the means of decision shall be em-
ployed, in what manner the votes are to be taken.

5. The order in which the subjects are to be treated.

6. The form to be given to the decision.

7. The modes and manners of execution in case obstacles
of any description should be met with.

According to Article XXXII. of the treaty of May 30th,
the congress should be general, and all the powers engaged in the
war that that treaty terminated should send their plenipoten-
tiaries there. Although the term powers carries with itself an
indeterminate idea of greatness and of strength which seems
to render it inapplicable to many states deprived of the one and
the other, employed as it is in Article XXXII. in an abstract
and general sense, restrained only by the expression of a con-
nection entirely independent of the comparative strength of
states and common to the smallest and the largest, it comprises
incontestably all those betvi^een which that connection exists,
that is to say, that have been in one way or another engaged

"In the war that the treaty of May 30th terminated. If one
excepts Turkey and Switzerland, for the republic of San-
Marino cannot be reckoned, all the states of Europe, great
and small, have been engaged in that war. The right of
the smallest to send a plenipotentiary to the congress results
then from the provision of the treaty of May 30th. France
has not thought of excluding them, and the other contracting
powers have not been able to do so, since stipulating for them
and in their name they were not able to stipulate against them.
The smallest states, being those which would most readily be
excluded because of their weakness, are all, or nearly all, in
Germany. Now Germany intends to form a confederation of
which they are members ; the organization of this consequently

^interests them in the highest degree. It could not be done
without them without violating their natural independence,
and Article VI. of the treaty of May 30, which by implication
lays great stress upon it, by saying that the states of Germany

"should be independent and united by a federal link. That

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 159-

organization will be made at the congress, it would then be 1
unjust to exclude them from it.

To these motives of justice a more practical motive of utility
to France must be added. All that is of interest to the small
states is of interest to her also. All wish to preserve their
existence, and she should wish that they preserve it. Some of
them might desire to be enlarged, and that would suit her,
inasmuch as it would diminish the growth of the large states.
Her policy would be to protect and favour them, but without 1
any one being able to take umbrage on that account, which:
would be less easy if they did not attend the congress, and,
instead of having to support their requests, she should even be
obliged to make their requests for them, while, from another
point of view, the need they would have of her assistance would
give her an influence over them. Thus the question of their
votes being or not being counted, is not indifferent to her.

In pursuance of which, if it should occur that, under the
pretext of the smallness of any state engaged in the last war,
the plenipotentiaries of the sovereign of that state be excluded
from the congress, the king's ambassadors shall oppose, and
shall insist on their being admitted.

The nations of Europe do not yet acknowledge in their
mutual intercourse the moral law alone, nor yet that of nature
alone, but are still under a law that they have made for them-
selves, and which gives to the first a sanction which it other-
wise lacks ; it is a law established by written conventions, or by
usage constantly, universally, and reciprocally followed, which
is always founded on mutual consent, whether tacit or expressed,
and which is obligatory for all ; this law is the law of public
right.

Now there are in this right two fundamental principles : the
one that the sovereignty cannot be acquired by the simple fact
of conquest, nor pass to the conqueror if the sovereign does not
cede it ; the other, that any title of sovereignty, and conse-
quently the right that it supposes, are binding for the other
states only in so far as they may recognize it.

Whenever a conquered country has a sovereign, cession is
possible, and it follows from the first of the principles cited, that
it cannot be replaced, or supplied by anything.

But a conquered country can be without a sovereign, either be-
cause he who was sovereign has for himself and his heirs renounced
his right simply, without ceding it to another ; or because the
reigning family has just died out without any one being legally
called to reign after it. The moment a republic is conquered,
the sovereign ceases to exist, because his nature is such that

i6o THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

liberty is a necessary condition of his existence, and because
it is an absolute impossibility for him to have one moment of
liberty so long as the conquest lasts.

The cession by the sovereign is then impossible.

Does it therefore follow that in this case the right of conquest
can prolong itself indefinitely, or convert itself into the right of
sovereignty ? By no means.

Sovereignty is, in the general society of Europe, what
private property is in civil society. A country or state under
conquest and without a sovereign, and a property without
a master, are unclaimed goods ; but forming both the one and
the other a portion of a territory which is not unclaimed, and
consequently subject to the law of that territory, and can be
acquired only in conformity with that law ; for example, private
property, in conformity with the public law of the special state
in which it is situated, and the country or state only in con-
formity wi'th the European public law, which is the general law
of the territory forming the common domain of Europe. Now it
is one of the principles of this law that the sovereignty cannot
be transferred by the mere act of conquest. Therefore, when
the cession by the sovereign is impossible, it is of the fullest
necessity that it be supplied. And this can only be done by the
sanction of Europe. A sovereign whose states are under con-
quest (if he be an hereditary sovereign) does not cease to be
sovereign, unless he has ceded his right or has renounced it,
nor does he lose by the conquest anything beyond actual pos-
session, and consequently preserves the right to do all that
does not presuppose this possession. The sending of plenipo-
tentiaries to the congress presupposes it so little, that it could
even have for object to demand it.

Thus the King of Saxony and the prince-primate, as legiti-
mate sovereign of Aschaffenburg ^ (at least if he has not
abdicated in the meantime), could send theirs there, and not only
could they do so, but it is even necessary that they should, for in
case, which is more than probable, one wished to dispose
entirely, or in part of their possessions, since it would be
impossible to legitimately dispose of them, without a cession
or renunciation on their part, it is necessary that some one,
invested with their power, cede or renounce them in their name ;
and as it is a third principle of the public law of Europe,
that a cession or renunciation is null, if it has not been freely
made, that is, by a sovereign at liberty, the king's ambassadors

^ The prince-primate had been created sovereign Prince of Aschaffenburg,
Frankfort and Wetzlar, by the emperor, at the time of the formation of the Rhine
Confederation.

CHARLES MAURICE TALLEYRAND

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. i6i

shall take the necessary steps that some envoy claim, in con-
formity with this principle, for the King of Saxony, the authoriz-
ation to repair immediately wherever he may deem fit, and they
shall personally second that request, and if needed, shall them-
selves make it.

The Duke of Oldenburg^ and the Duke of Arenberg,^ the
Princes of Salm,* possessed in sovereignty countries that
-were seized in open peace by him who named himself and who
should have been their protector, and they were annexed to
France, but their sovereigns did not yield. The allies do not
appear to have, up to the present, recognized the rights of the
houses of Arenberg and Salm ; but those rights exist, as well
as those of the Prince of Isenburg, who, absent from home and
in the service of France, was treated like an enemy, and whose
estates are under conquest.

The princes and counts of the old German empire who
have become subjects of the members of the Rhine Confedera-
tion in virtue of the act which constituted it, cannot be considered
as dispossessed sovereigns, seeing that they were not sovereigns,
but simply vassals and subjects of the emperor and of the
Empire, whose sovereignty over them has been transferred to
their new masters. The attempts that they might make to
have themselves recognized as dispossessed sovereigns, and
that certain powers might be willing to support, ought to be
rejected as illegitimate and even dangerous. Mere hesitation on
that point would suffice to agitate, and perhaps, to set on fire
the whole of Southern Germany.

The order of St. John of Jerusalem might desire to send re-
presentatives to the congress, but considering that the island
of Malta and its dependencies were the only territory that it

^ The grand-duchy of Oldenburg had been annexed by Napoleon, December 13,
1820.

2 The states of the dukes of Arenberg had been partially reunited to France by
the treaty of Luneville. They had received in exchange, the county de Meppen and
the Fort de RecWinghausen. In 1803 the reigning duke, Louis- Angilbert, abdicated
in favour of his son Prosper-Louis, born in 1785. He became in 1806, senator of the
French Empire, entered the Rhine Confederation in 1807, raised, in 1808, a regiment
of Chasseurs with which he was sent to Spain. He was made prisoner and taken to
Kngland. In 1810, Napoleon disposed of his states that were partially annexed to
France and partially united to the Grand Duchy of Berg. In 1815, the states of the
Duke d' Arenberg were divided between Hanover and Prussia and that prince him-
self became a member of the Upper Chamber of Hanover.

' Constantin- Alexander, Prince of Salm- Salm and Frederick IV., Prince de Salm-
Kyrburg. The principality of Salm was united to France in 1802. In exchange the
Prince Salm-Kyrburg, who served in the French army as superior officer of cavalry,
obtained the bishopric of Munster and entered the Rhine Confederation. In 181 2,
Napoleon annexed that territory on condition of the payment of an income of 400,000
francs which was made to the prince. In 1814 his ancient principality was united to
Prussia.

VOL. II. M

l62 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

possessed ; that it yielded them, and that there can be no
sovereign without territory, as there can be no property without
an owner, it has ceased to be sovereign and can only become
one by acquiring a territory.

The deliverance of a conquered country, in whatever manner
it be done, returns immediate possession to the sovereign who
has only lost that, and to the republic its existence. They can
only retake possession, the one and the other, of that which
belonged to them, and not to any one else.

The Electors of Hanover and of Hesse, the prince of Nas-
sau-Orange as prince of Germany, the Dukes of Brunswick ^ and
of Oldenburg, who all, in consequence of the dissolution of the
German Empire were independent when their countries were
invaded, or disposed of, possess them to-day as legitimately as
formerly.

The cities of Liibeck, Bremen, and Hamburg, had become
independent by reason of the dissolution of the German Empire :
that of Danzig, by the peace of Tilsit.^ The republics of Valais,
of Genoa, Lucca, and Ragusa, were independent for centuries.
All have fallen under the conquest, unless the documents by
which Genoa and Lucca seemed to give up their own sovereignty
be regarded as valid.

Those that are not now occupied by any foreign force, nor
governed by any foreign authority, have again become what they
were, and can have ministers at the congress. The others
cannot.

Geneva has recovered her former independence ; but she has
not been engaged, as a state, in the war that the treaty of
May 30 has terminated ; and she is to be included in the
Helvetic confederation, which also was not engaged therein.

The island of Elba forms an independent state only since the
war has ceased.^

Conquest being unable by itself to give sovereignty cannot
return it. The sovereign who enters by conquest into a
country which he has ceded cannot again become sovereign of
that country, any more than a private owner can seize upon
property he has already disposed of

That which conquest cannot give to one it cannot give to

^ Frederick- William, Duke of Brunswick-CEls, born in 1771, had succeeded his
father in 1806. But he was deposed at the peace of Tilsit and his dukedom annexed
to the kingdom of Westphalia. After vain efforts to reconquer his patrimony, he took
refuge in England. He took up arms again in 1813, was reinstated in his states,
December 22 of the same year, and was killed at Waterloo.

^ Napoleon had then taken Danzig from Prussia, and declared it a free city, but
it was to be occupied by a French garrison.

' Napoleon had been recognized as prince sovereign of the island of Elba.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 163

several. If then several fellow-conquerors-attribute to themselves
or give to themselves reciprocally a sovereignty over the country
which they have conquered, they commit an act which public law
disapproves and annuls.

The Prince of Orange ^ ceded all his rights to Holland, but
the treaty of May 30, signed by eight of the principal powers of
Europe and agreed to in the names of all, returns him that
country (Open Treaty, Art. 6).

That treaty on laying down the bases of several dispositions to
made by the congress, says that the former states of the King of
Sardinia a portion only of which he had ceded, shall be returned
him (Art. 2, Secret), and that Austria shall have as limits, beyond
the Alps, the Po, Lago Maggiore, and the Tessin, which will be
returning her countries that belonged to her and that she had
yielded on the Adriatic Gulf and in Italy (Art. 6, Open, and 2,
Secret).

The Prince of Orange possesses therefore a legitimate and
actual right, and the King of Sardinia and Austria an almost
actual right of sovereignty over the countries which had ceased
to belong to them because they had ceded tliem.

But the treaty has not returned to Prussia any of the countries
that she ceded at various times on this side of the Elbe. She
has then no real right of sovereignty over those countries, if we
except the principality of Neufchitel, for which the last and
legitimate possessor has made an arrangement with her that may
be considered as a cession. The treaty has not given Tuscany
and Modena back to the Archdukes Ferdinand ^ and Francis,*

"i William, Prince of Orange Nassau, afterwards King of the Netherlands, was
bom in 1772 ; he was the son of the Stadtholder, William V. He was in command
of the Dutch forces in 1794 and 1795. At the time of the French invasion his father
abdicated and took refuge in England, and Prince William himself entered the service
of Austria. In 1803, he obtained, in exchange for all his rights on Holland, the abbey
of Fulda, which had just been secularized. But having, in 1806, embraced the cause
of Prussia, he was despoiled of that principality as well as of his paternal estates. He
then took up service again in Austria. He re-entered Holland in 18 1 3, and took
the title of the United Provinces. The Congress of Vienna bestowed on him the title
of King of the Netherlands, and united Belgium to Holland. In the following year
King William I. joined again the coalition and was wounded at Waterloo. He
reigned peacefully until 1 830, when Belgium rose against him, and proclaimed her
independence. He abdicated in 1840, and died three years later in Berlin.

^ Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, son of the Emperor Leopold and of Marie- Louise
infanta of Spain. He became Grand-Duke of Tuscany in 1791. He retained his
states until 1799, when he was deposed, and regained possession of his states in the
same year. But the victory of Marengo again deprived him of his states, which were
transformed in 1801 into the kingdom of Etruria, and given to the duke Louis of Parma.
Ferdinand retired to Vienna, received in 1803 the archbishopric of Salzburg, with the
title of elector, and in 1805, the bishopric of Wurtzburg, and in 1806 joined the Rhine
Confederation with the title of grand-duke. Ferdinand re-entered Tuscany in 1814
and reigned until 1824.

* Fran9ois IV. , son of the Archduke Ferdinand and of Marie-Beatrix d'Este,
by.his mother grandson of Hercules III. Duke of Modena. In 1797, Hercules was

M 2

i64 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

who consequently have not, nor can have any legitimate right as
sovereigns over them.

A prince who attributes to himself the sovereignty of a con-
quered country that has not been ceded to him usurps it. If
the country previously belonged to him, and if it be vacant the
usurpation is less odious ; but it is still usurpation, which cannot
confer legal right.

The country about Modena having been yielded, and having
become an integrant portion of another state, before the war
which the treaty of May 30th terminated, was not engaged in
that war as a state. Thus if it possessed now a legitimate
sovereign, that sovereign could not have a minister at the
congress.

The country about Parma, which was likewise ceded, had
likewise ceased before the war to form a separate state, and
became one only after the war was over.^

Tuscany is not a vacant country, though France to whom
she has been ceded and united, has renounced her, because it
was ceded under a condition which has not been fulfilled, on
condition to furnish a determinate equivalent, which has not
been furnished, and which caused the Queen of Etruria to recover
her right of sovereignty over that country.^

The most legitimate right can be contested, it then becomes
and remains doubtful, as long as the dispute is not terminated ;
and the effect of that right is suspended for all cases, and every-
where when it is necessary for it to be made evident. A sovereign
who is such only for the states which acknowledge him, cannot
send an envoy where the representatives of all meet a portion
of which do not recognize his rights.

Ferdinand IV. can therefore have representatives at the
congress only as King of Sicily. It is not necessary to add
that he who reigns at Naples cannot have any.
-^^ From all that precedes, the following general rule can be
drawn :

That every prince possessing over states engaged in the last

deposed by the French and his states were incorporated in the Cisalpine republic
where they formed the departments of Crostolo, chief-town Reggio, and of Panaro,
chief-town Modena, in 1814. He reigned until 1846. From his marriage with Marie-
Beatrix, daughter of the King of Sardinia, Victor Emanuel, by whom he had several
children, among whom the princess Maria-Theresa, who married the Comte de
Chambord.

' The duchy of Parma had been united to the Cisalpine republic in 1802. Under
the Empire it was annexed to France, and formed the department of Taro, chief-town
Parma.

2 It will be remembered that the secret treaty of Fontainebleau of October 27,
1807, promised to the Queen Regent of Etruria in exchange for her states in Italy, the
kingdom of Lusitania that was to be formed of a part of Portugal. That agreement
had not been kept.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 165

war, a right of sovereignty which has been universally recognized,
that he has not ceded, and which is not recognized in any way
(be those states under conquest or not), can, as well as all
states that the war found free, which have been engaged in it,
and are actually free, have a plenipotentiary at the congress,
and that all other princes or states cannot.

The king's ambassador shall abide by this rule, and arrange
that it be adopted and followed.

The treaty of May 30th mentions as the points to be regu-
lated at congress only the following :

1. The disposal of the territories which France had renounced
(Art. I, Secret).

2. The establishment of relations from which should result
a real and durable system of equilibrium in Europe (Same
Article).

3. The organization of the confederation of the German
States (Art VI. Open).

4. The guarantee of the organization that Switzerland has
or shall have given herself since the treaty (Art II., Secret).

5. The duties to be levied on the navigation of the Rhine
by the bordering states (Article V. Open.

6. The application, (if it be judged practicable,) to the rivers
that separate or cross different states, of the clause which
provides for the free navigation of the Rhine (Same Article).

7. The universal abolition of the slave trade (Treaty with
England, ist additional Article).

But the territories which France has renounced are not the
only ones to be disposed of There are yet those to dispose of
which belonged to Napoleon, in another capacity than that of
ruler of France, where or to the members of his family, and
over which as well for the latter as for himself, he has renounced
all claim.

Outside of these territories there are many others which are
under conquest. If the congress should not regulate their fate,
how can it establish that equilibrium, which ought to be the
main and final object of its operations .? Is not a determined
ratio between the forces, and consequently between the posses-
sions of all the states, a necessary condition of it 1 Can certain
proportions exist between the possessions of all, if the right
of possession be uncertain for some t It is not a momentary
equilibrium that should be established, but a durable one. It
can endure only as long as the proportions upon which it is
founded ; and these proportions can themselves endure only as
long as the right of possession shall be transmitted in such a
way that they shall not be changed. The order of succession in

i66 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

each state ought to be entered as a necessary element in the
calculation of the equilibrium, not so as to be changed, if it
is certain, but in such a manner as to be rendered certain,
if it is not that. There is all the more reason for fixing it, if the
state where it is doubtful is a state that is about to be aggran-
dized ; for, by giving to its present possessor, one gives to the
heir of the latter, and it is necessary to know to whom one
gives. The ordinary and almost inevitable effect of a right
of uncertain succession is to produce civil and foreign wars, and
often the one and the other at the same time, which is not only a
just motive for, but again makes a necessity to remove all
\ uncertainty on that point.

The King of Sardinia took among his titles that of prince
and perpetual vicar of the Holy Roman Empire. Savoy and
Montferrat,! some districts of Piedmont were the feoffs of it.
The right to succeed to them was regulated by the law of the
Empire, and that law excluded women for ever.

The King of Sardinia possessed his other states as inde-
pendent prince. The right to succeed to them could be regulated
only by the laws of the Empire to which they were not subjected.
Was the order of succession there established by an express law
which might be applied to a circumstance for which the tacit law
of usage could not replace it, because that circumstance never
offered before .' namely that in which the house of Savoy being
divided into two lines, there would only remain women in the
reigning line, a circumstance which, to say the truth, still belongs
to the future, but to a future so certain and so near that, in the
eyes of Europe, and respecting the points which the congress
should settle, it ought to be considered as present. The reigning
line counts only three princes, all three of an advanced age —
the old king, who is a widower,^ the present king,^ who has only
daughters, and the Due de Genevois,* who has been married
seven years and who has no children. In 1445, Piedmont
being already for four centuries in the house of Savoy, Duke
Louis, considering that the ruin of sovereign houses is the

^ Montferrat was an ancient marquisate situated between Piedmont and the re-
public of Genoa. Its capital was Casal. That state was conceded to the kingdom .
of Sardinia by the emperor in 1708, and the kings of Sardinia took the title of vicar
of the emperor, a title which had been conferred upon the Marquis of Montferrat by the
emperor Charles IV.

''■ Charles-Emanuel II. who abdicated in i8o2. He died at Rome in 1819, where
he was a Jesuit. His wife was Marie- Adela'ide-Xaviere-Clotilde, daughter of the
Dauphin Louis, and thus sister of Louis XVIII.

^ Victor-Emanuel I. brother of the above.

* Charles-Felix, born in 1765, brother of the two above-mentioned, ascended the
throne in 1804, and died without children in 1824. The Duke of Carigan (Charles-
Albert) issue of the collateral line, succeeded him.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 167

result of a division of their possessions, declared the domain of
Savoy untransferable, that is to say, all that his house possessed
then or was thereafter to possess. All the acquisitions made or
to be made, were thus annexed to the ducal crown of Savoy.
That is why we see that, in the course of several centuries, the
heir of Savoy has always been heir to the possessions of his
house, which certainly would not have occurred if there had
been a different order of succession for the one and the other.
To say that that which was common to them should exist only
in the reigning line, and that the women of that line, if alone
remaining, should be preferred to the males of another hne for
all that which was not imperial fief, would be to advance a
proposition impossible to admit without proving it, and im-
possible of proving otherwise than by a legal act, authentic
and solemn, which should have established such a distinction
between the two lines. An act of that nature if it existed
would not have remained ignored, it would have been found,
cited, or transcribed in more than one record, and no trace of
it is found anywhere. It can then be looked upon as certain
that it never existed, and that thus the totality of the inherit-
ance of the house of Sardinia, and not only a portion of that
inheritance which depended of the empire, ought, in virtue of
the law of inheritance ruling, pass immediately from the last
prince of the reigning branch to those of the second branch ;
in other terms, that all the possessions of the house of Sardinia
are hereditary from male to male by right of primogeniture, and
to the exclusion of women. It is then, probable, that no doubt
would arise in that respect, if Austria, who aspires to possess, by
herself, or by the princes of her house, all the north of Italy,
had no interest in raising some, and if the marriage of the
Archduke Francis with the princess, eldest daughter of the king,
did not offer him a pretext, which it is to be feared that she
will seize. It would suffice her to give to the pretensions, that
of himself or incited by her, the archduke should form in his
wife's behalf, the qualifications of rights, to assume that of up-
holding them by the force of arms. It is these pretensions
and the fatal results that they cannot fail to bring about, that
it is not only wise but even necessary to obviate, by establishing
the right of the house of Carignan by a recognition that prevent
all litigation.^

The same principle of public right which renders all claim to

1 The house of Carignan descended from Charles-Emanuel I. , Duke of Savoy,
who died in 1630. It was then represented by Charles- Amedeus- Albert, Prince of
Carignan, bom in 1798, cousin of the king Victor- Emanuel. He was called to the
throne in 1831, at the death of the king Charles-Felix.

l68 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

sovereignty null for the states which have not recognized it,
applies, as a necessary consequence, to every means of acquiring
sovereignty, and, therefore, to the laws of inheritance that trans-
mit it. It is known what happened when the last prince of each
of the two branches of the first house of Austria substituted
(Charles II. by his testament, and Charles VI. by his pragmatic)
a new order of succession to that which should have ended with
his person. Recognized by some, rejected by the others, the
new law of inheritance became the cause of a bloody contest,
that did not and could not terminate except when all the states
were of one accord on the right that the disposition made by
each prince tended to establish. To terminate a contest being
only to acknowledge a right, those without whose recognition
a right should be reputed not to exist, can proclaim it, and
are indeed the only ones who can do so. And by the same
means (and because it is not of Europe as of a particular state,
where disputes relative to the right of property cannot have
very serious results, which may not easily and quickly be termi-
nated, and where those who can terminate them are always
present) to the power of terminating the present disputes relative
to the right of sovereignty, is added for the congress, not only
the right but even the power of preventing them, as much as
the nature of things will permit, by removing that of all causes
that could most infallibly produce them, namely : uncertainty
regarding the right of succession.

Switzerland enjoyed, during several centuries, amidst the
wars of Europe, and though situated between two great rival
powers, a neutrality constantly respected, and not less profitable
to others than to herself. Not only by that neutrality the arena
of war was restrained, but again many causes of war were pre-
vented, and France found herself dispensed with devoting a portion
of her means and forces to defend that portion of her frontiers, the
most vulnerable, which Switzerland, always neutral, protected.
If, in the future, Switzerland was no longer to be free to
remain neutral, or, what amounts to the same thing, if her
neutrality should not be respected, such a state of things, by the
influence that it would necessarily have on the relative power
of the neighbouring states, would disturb and perhaps even destroy
that equilibrium which it is to establish. The treaty of May 30
only speaks of guaranteeing the organization of Switzerland ; but
it is necessary that her future neutrality be also guaranteed.

The Ottoman Porte was not engaged in the last war, but it
is a European power, whose preservation is important for the
European equilibrium. It is then useful that its existence
should also be assured.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 169.

Thus the Congress should decide : —

1. The fate of the states under conquest and not vacant, of"
which there are two classes, including : the first, the states in
litigation, that is to say, the states over which the same right
of sovereignty is recognized to several persons, by different
powers.

To this class belong the realms of Naples and Tuscany.

The second, the states or countries the possession of which
the sovereign has lost, without having ceded them and without
another person claiming sovereignty over them.

The kingdom of Saxony, the duchy of Warsaw, the provinces
of Holy-See situated on the Adriatic, the principalities of
Orenberg, Isenberg, and Salm, to which must be added that of
Aschaffenbrg (if the prince primate has not abdicated) compose
the second class.

2. Doubtful rights of succession.

3. The disposal to be made of those states or vacant
countries, that is to say, the states which the legitimate sovereign^
has renounced, without ceding them, or those over j^liich no-
actual right of sovereignty has been conferred upon any one
with the consent of Europe.

They form also two classes ; in the first of which are included
those which have not been actually assigned, but destined by
the treaty of May 30, namely : —

To the King of Sardinia, the portion of his old states ceded'
to France, that is to say. Savoy and the county of Nice, (his
other possessions not having been ceded, he remained lawful
sovereign of them), and an indeterminate portion of the state of
Genoa.

To Austria, the Illyrian provinces and the portion of the
realm of Italy to the left of the Po, and to the east of Lago
Maggiore and of Tessin.

To Holland, Belgium, with a frontier to fix to the left side of
the Meuse.

Finally, to Prussia and other German states that have not
been mentioned, to serve them as compensation and to be divided
among them in a proportion that has not been indicated, the
countries situated between the Meuse, the frontiers of France and
the Rhine.

To the other class belongs the rest of the vacant countries,

namely : —

The undetermined part of the state of Genoa which has not
been destined to the King of Sardinia ; the part of the former
realm of Italy not destined to Austria ; Lucca ; Piombino ; the
Ionian Isles ; the Grand Duchy of Berg, such as it existed.

I70 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

before January i, 1811 ; Ost-Frise ; all the provinces formerly
Prussian, which formed a portion of the kingdom of Westphalia ;
the principality of Erfurt and the town of Danzig.

4. The future destiny of the Island of Elba, which, given to
him who possesses it for life only, shall, at his death, become
a vacant country.

5. The organization of the German Confederation: —

All those points should be so settled as to bring about a
real equilibrium, into the composition of which shall enter as
necessary elements the organization of Switzerland, its future
neutrality, and the integrity of the recognized and guaranteed
Ottoman possessions in Europe.

6. The toll dues on the Rhine the Scheldt, and the other
rivers the navigation of which is to be made free.

7. The universal abolition of the slave-trade.

Neither an obligation can be created, nor a certain right of
a state removed, without its consent.

In every case where it is necessary to do the one or the other,
all the powers together have no more power than one alone,
The consent of the party interested being necessary, it must be
obtained or to that which, without it, would not be just must
be renounced. Means of negotiations is then the only one
permitted.

The means of decision is, on the contrary, the only one that
can be taken when the competence, having been established
(and that of the congress is an obvious consequence of the
principles set forth above), the question at issue is either to
proclaim a disputed right of sovereignty or to dispose of
territories which belong to no one, or to regulate the exercise of
a right common to several states, which, by explicit consent
made it subordinate to the interest of all. For if it were necessary
to secure, in the first case, the consent of him whose right is
declared null, in the second, the consent of all those who pre-
tend to a vacant territory, and, in the third, that of all concerned,
never could a different be terminated, a vacant territory could
never cease to be so, never could a right the exercise of which
should have to be regulated according to the interest of all,
be discharged.

The fate of states in litigation.

The doubtful rights of succession ;

The disposal of vacant states ;

And the toll dues to establish on the Rhine ;

Should be settled by means of decision, with this difference,
which arises from the disparity of objects, namely that, in the
first case, the litigation cannot be terminated only in so far as the

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 171

right of one of those between which it exists, is unanimously
recognized ; that in the second case, the decision ought to be
likewise unanimous ; and that it should be so again, in the third,
with the exception of the votes of the co-claimants, which ought
not to be counted ; finally that, in the fourth case, the majority
should suffice.

The other points can only be settled by means of negotiation.

The fate of the countries that are neither vacant, nor in

litigation, because for disposing of them otherwise than by

returning them to their respective sovereigns, the consent of

the latter is necessary.

The organization of the German Confederation, because that
organization shall become, for the German states, a law which
cannot be imposed upon them without their consent.

The abolition of the slave-trade, because it has been hitherto
a matter foreign to the public law of Europe, under which the
English wish to bring it now. ^^

Out of about one hundred and seventy millions of inhabi-
tants that Christian Europe contains, more than two-thirds of
them belong to France and to the seven states that signed with
her the treaty of May 30, and the half of the other third to
countries under conquest, which not having been engaged in the
war, have no ministers at the congress ; the surplus forms the
population of more than forty states, of which some would be
scarcely the hundredth part of the smallest of those which
signed the treaty of May 30, and which all united would not
constitute a power equal to one of the great powers of Europe.
What part shall they play in the deliberations .' What share
in the right of voting ? Shall each one have a share equal to
that of the largest states .' This indeed would be unwarrant-
able. Shall they have but one vote in common .? They would
never succeed in coming to an agreement. Shall they have
none .' It would be better, then, not to admit them. But which
shall be excluded .' The ministers of the pope, of Sicily, of
Sardinia .' or that of Holland, or that of Saxony, or only those
who are not ministers of crowned heads 1 But who would cede
on behalf of those princes if they should have to cede >. Who
would, on their behalf, give to the obligation, that was about to
be imposed upon them, the consent that they should give.?
Shall their states be disposed of without their ceding them ?
Shall their consent be passed over when public law renders it
necessary .? Shall Europe thus have met to violate the principles
of the law which governs her ? It is on the contrary most
important to enforce them more strictly now that they have
been so long ignored and so ruthlessly violated. A simple

172 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

means of conciliating at the same time, law and propriety would
be to value the share that the states of the third or fourth order
should take in the arrangements about to be made, not by the
scale of power, but by that of their interest.

The general equilibrium of Europe cannot be composed of
simple elements. It can only be a system of partial equilibrium
The small or medium states should be allowed a vote only in
the questions concerning the particular system to which they
belong — the states of Italy in the arrangements relative to Italy,
and the German states in the arrangements relative to Germany.
The great powers alone, being interested in the whole, should
^o-ordinate each part with regard to the whole.

The order which appears the most natural and suitable for
treating those points, is that in which they have been presented
above. That which each one has and that which he ought to
keep must first be determined to know if it is necessary and
what is necessary to add to it ; not to dispose of vacant
countries except when having good grounds for doing so to
divide afterwards that which is to be divided, and thus to fix the
general state of possession which is the first principle of all
equilibrium. The organization of Germany can only come
afterwards, for it is necessary that it be relative to the reciprocal
power of the German States, and consequently that that power
be previously fixed. Finally, the guarantees should follow and
not precede the arrangements on which they bear.

A protocol should be kept of the deliberations, acts and
decisions of the congress. These decisions ought not to be
expressed in other language than that of ordinary treaties. To
return the realm of Naples to Ferdinand IV., it will suffice that
the treaty recognize that prince as King of Naples, or simply
name him with that title in the following style, " His Majesty
Ferdinand IV., King of Naples and Sicily."

In like manner, to proclaim the right of the house of
Carignan, the treaty has only to say, " Such part of the state
of Genoa is for ever united to the states of his Majesty the
King of Sardinia, to be, like them, possessed in full ownership
and sovereignty, and to be inherited from male to male, by order
of primogeniture, in both branches of his house."

For that which concerns the manner and means of execution
a guarantee common to all the recognized rights, will be suffi-
cient, since it forces the guarantees to uphold those rights, and
that it deprives from all external support the pretensions
opposed to them.

X After having indicated what points the congress can and
should decide, and pointed out that its competence results from

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 173

the very principles of law that are to serve to decide those points,
it remains to consider them in the light of the interest of France,
and to show that fortunately for France she sees no reason why
justice and utility should be antagonistic, and does not seek her
own utility save in that justice which is the utility of all.

An absolute equality of power between all the states, not
only can never exist, but is not necessary to the political
equilibrium, and would perhaps, in some respects, be hurtful to
it. That equilibrium consists in a relation between the power
of resistance and forces of aggression reciprocal of the various
political bodies. If Europe were composed of states being so
related to one another that the minimum of the resisting power
of the smallest was equal to the maximum of the aggressive
force of the largest, there would then be a real equilibrium, that
is to say resulting from the very nature of things. But the
situation of Europe is not and will never become such. Con-
tiguous to large territories belonging to one single power there
are territories of a greater or less size divided in a greater or
less number of states, often of diverse natures. To unite
these states by a federal link is often impossible, and it is
always impossible to give those which are thus united the same
unity of will and the same power of action as though they
were a simple body. Therefore, they only contribute to the
formation of the general equilibrium as imperfect elements ; in
their capacity of composite bodies, they have their own equili-
brium, subject to a thousand modifications, which necessarily
affect that of which they form a part.

Such a situation admits solely of an equilibrium quite
artificial and precarious, that can endure only so long as certain
large states are animated with a spirit of moderation and justice
which will preserve that equilibrium.

The policy of preservation was that of France, during the
whole of the past century, until the outbreak of the events which
produced the last war ; and it is that policy which the king
wishes constantly to follow. But before preserving, one must
establish.

If Austria were to ask for the possession of all Italy, there
would be no one perhaps who would not denounce such a
demand, think it monstrous, and regard the union of Italy to
Austria as fatal to the independence and safety of Europe.
Nevertheless, by giving all Italy to Austria, the independence of
the former would simply be assured. Once united in one body,
Italy, by whatever right she belonged to Austria, would escape
her, not sooner or later, but in a very few years, perhaps in a
few months, and Austria would have acquired her only to lose

174 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

her. On the other hand, let Italy be divided into seven terri-
tories, of which the two principal shall be at the extremities and
the four smallest contiguous to the largest ; give the latter to
Austria, and three of the smallest to the princes of her house,
this would offer her a pretext by the aid of which she cause the
fourth one to fall to the share of one of the princes. Let the
territory at the other extremity be occuped by a man, who
because of his personal position towards a number of the
sovereigns of Europe, can have no hope except in Austria nor
any support but hers ; let the seventh territory belong to a prince
whose sole strength rests in the respect due to his character, is it
not manifest that in appearing to give but a portion of Italy to
Austria she will really have been given the whole .'' and that her
apparent division into different states would be, in reality, but a
means given to Austria to possess that country in the only
manner in which she can possess it, without losing it. Such,
indeed, would be the state of Italy, where Austria is to have the
Po, Lago Maggiore, and Tessin as limits, if Modena, Parma and
Piacenza, if the grand-duchy of Tuscany had princes of her
house for sovereigns, if the right of succession in the house of
Sardinia remained doubtful, if he who reigns at Naples continued
to reign there.

Italy divided into non-confederate states is not susceptible for
a real but only for a relative independence, which consists in
being submitted not to one influence only, but to several. The
relation which causes those influences to balance each other is
that which constitutes her equilibrium.

That the existence of this equilibrium is of importance to
Europe is a thing so obvious that it is unnecessary to question it ;
and it is no less ovdious that, were Italy situated as has just been
surmised, all kind of equilibrium would cease for her.

What is necessary, and what can be done to establish it .■'
Nothing except what justice requires or authorizes.

Naples must be restored to her legitimate sovereign, Tuscany
to the Queen of Etruria, not only the provinces on the Adriatic
that have not yet been ceded, but also the legations of Ravenna
and of Bologna, now vacant must be returned to the Holy See.
Piombino must go back to the prince of that name to whom it
belonged, as well as the mines of the Island of Elba, under the
suzerainty of the crown of Naples, and who having been deprived
of both properties without indemnity, has been reduced to a
state bordering upon indigence.^ To remove all doubts con-

^ The principality of Piombino included in Tuscany, was about ten miles long and
contained an area of above fifty thousand acres. It belonged formerly to the family
Buoncompagni, who had bought it in 1634. The prince of Piombino was deposed

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 175.

cerning the rights of the house of Carignan, and to aggrandize
Sardinia.

If it were proposed to assembled Europe to declare :

That the sovereignty is acquired by the sole fact of con-
quest ; and that the patrimony of a prince who only lost it
through his unswerving fidelity to the cause of Europe, should
with the consent of Europe, belong to him into whose hands the
misfortunes of Europe have alone caused it to fall, it is impos-
sible to suppose that such a proposition would not be at
once received with an unanimous cry of reprobation. All,
would feel that it tended to nothing less than an overthrow
of the only barrier that the natural independence of the people
has permitted reason to raise between the right of sovereignty,,
and force, In order to restrain the one and preserve the other,,
and to the undermining of the very foundations of morality.
itself.

This is nevertheless what would be implied if it were possible
for the congress to recognize him who reigns in Naples, as.
sovereign of the country, and it is again what it will be reputed
to have declared if it do not recognize Ferdinand IV. as king.
For the peoples would never understand that it should have
consecrated by its silence the violation of a principle so important
for all sovereigns, and yet have held it for true. They will,
conclude from it that this principle does not exist, and that
force alone is right.

Austria might object that she has given guarantees to him
who reigns in Naples.^ But the act by which one is guaranteed
a thing which does not belong to him, though declaring that
necessity excuses it, is to say the least invalid. That guarantee
moreover was not given against a judgment of Europe, but
against the man with whom all Europe was then at war.

It would undoubtedly be better that he who reigns at Naples
should obtain no sovereignty. But the services he has rendered
to the cause of Europe have been much talked of; if he had
really rendered them, and if it be necessary to recompense him
on that account, the king's ambassadors will not oppose some-
thing being given to him, but it must not belong to others ; it

in 1801. Bonaparte took possession of the principality and gave it to his sister
Princess Eliza Baciocchi. The treaty of Vienna restored it to the family Buoncompagni,
and the latter ceded it to the Grand-Duke of Tuscany for a sum of four millions seven,
hundred and four thousand francs.

1 Murat had signed two treaties of January 6 and 11, 1814, the one with Austria,
the other with England, by which those two powers guaranteed him his states, and
even promised him an increase of territory at the expense of the States of the Church,
in regard to which he undertook to add to the allied armies, thirty thousand men from,
his troops.

176 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

may be anything which is unoccupied, such as a portion of the
Ionian Isles.

No right was ever more legitimate than that of the Queen
of Etruria to Tuscany. That country had been ceded by the
grand-duke, and Charles IV. had acquired it for his daughter,
giving in exchange the duchies of Parma, Piacenza, Guastalla,
and Louisiana, with a certain number of vessels and millions.
If, however, the restitution of Tuscany offered too many difficul-
ties, and if, in its place, the duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and
Guastalla should be offered, the king's ambassadors shall persuade
those of Spain to content themselves with that offer, and accept it.

Austria had not only guaranteed the possession of that king-
dom to him who reigns in Naples ; she had even engaged to
to procure him an aggrandizement to the extent of a territory
of from four to six hundred thousand souls. The provinces of
the Holy See on the Adriatic, of which three departments of the
kingdom of Italy has been formed, have been destined to serve
for the accomplishment of that promise, and continue for that
reason to be occupied by the Neapolitan troops. If, as must be
hoped, he who reigns in Naples, ceases to reign there, there will
no longer be question of that promise, and the difficulty that
Austria would have in keeping it might become a very good
motive for her abandonment of him to whom she made it. But
in any case, the king's ambassadors will second the opposi-
tion that His Holiness will undoubtedly offer to the provinces
being separated from the pontifical domain with all their efforts.
They will in like manner, as far as depends upon them, contribute
to the legations of Ravenna and of Bologne being restored to
the Holy See. That of Ferrara being comprised in that which,
according to the treaty of May 30, is destined to Austria, its
restitution might cause great, and even insurmountable, difficul-
ties. But if any arrangement can facilitate it, provided it be not
of a nature to increase Austrian influence in Italy, the king's
ambassadors shall give their assistance to it.

The Prince of Piombino, though simple feudatory of the
crown of Naples, having been deposed as though he had been
sovereign prince, shall be re-established in all the rights of which
he has been deprived by violence.

Those of the House of Carignan have been set forth with
sufficient detail, so that it is not necessary to speak of them again.
It is only by the supposition that these rights be placed beyond
all doubt, that Sardinia can be aggrandized, but in that case it
is to be hoped that she be as much aggrandized as the amount
■of unoccupied land allows that she may the more improve in
power,and be sure of her own independence.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 177

In Italy, it is Austria who must be prevented from acquiring
entire sway, by opposing other influences to hers. In Germany,
it is Prussia. The exiguity of her monarchy makes ambition a
sort of necessity to her. Any pretext seems good to her. No
scruples stop her. Her convenience forms her right. It is thus
that in the course of sixty-three years, she has raised her
population from less than four millions of subjects to ten millions,
and that she has been able to form of herself, if I may so term
it, an immense monarchical frame, by acquiring here and there
scattered territories, which she aims at uniting by incorporating
in herself those that separate them. The terrible fall that her
ambition brought upon her has not yet cured her of it. At this
very moment, her emissaries and partisans are agitating Ger-
many, by representing France as bent on again invading her,
and Prussia, as the only power in a condition to defend her,
and asking that she be delivered up to her that she may save
her. She would have liked to have had Belgium. She would
like to have all that lies between the present frontiers of France,
the Meuse, and the Rhine. She wants Luxembourg. All is lost
if Mayence is not given her. She can have no security, if-she
does not possess Saxony. It is said that the allies have arranged
to re-establish her in the same degree of power in which she
was before her fall, that is to say, with ten million subjects. If
that were permitted, she would very soon have twenty, and the
whole of Germany would be subjected to her. It is necessary, then,
to put a rein to her ambition, by first restraining as much as
possible, her status of possession in Germany, and afterwards by
cutting short her influence by a federal organization.

Her status of possession shall be checked by the preser-
vation of all the small states, and the aggrandisement of the
medium ones.

All the small states should be preserved for the sole reason
that they exist, with the single exception of the ecclesiastical
principality of Aschaffenbourg, whose preservation seems in-
compatible with the general plan of the distribution of terri-
tories ; but a sufficient income ought to be assured to the former
possessor.

If all the small states ought to be preserved, far more does
this hold good of the kingdom of Saxony. The King of Saxony
has governed his subjects for forty years like a father, giving an
example of the virtues of both the man and the prince. Assailed
for the first time by the tempest, at an advanced age, which
should have brought him repose, and raised again forthwith by
the hand that had vanquished him, and had crushed so many
others, if he made mistakes, they should be imputed to a legiti-
VOL. II. N

178 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

mate fear, or to a sentiment that is always honourable to him
who experiences it, whatever be its object. Those who reproach
him for them, have had far greater ones themselves, without
having the same excuse. That which was given him, was given
without his asking, or desiring it, or even knowing that he had
it. He enjoyed prosperity with moderation, and now bears
misfortune with dignity. To these motives, v/hich are alone
sufficient to guarantee him against being abandoned by the king,
are joined the links of relationship which unites them,^ and the
necessity of preventing Saxony from falling a prey to Prussia,
which, by such an acquisition, would take a long and decided
step towards the absolute dominion of Germany.

This necessity is so great, that if, on a supposition hereafter
to be mentioned, the King of Saxony should find himself called
upon to take possession of another kingdom, that of Saxony
must all the same not cease to exist, and must be given to the
ducal branch, which ought to be especially agreeable to the
Emperor of Russia, since his brother-in-law, the hereditary
Prince of Weimar, would then find himself presumptive heir.

The king's ambassadors shall, consequently, support, by
every means in their power, the cause of the King of Saxony,
and, in every ca!se, do all that is possible in order that Saxony
may not become a Prussian province.

It is likewise important that Prussia should not acquire
Saxony, and that she should be prevented from acquiring
Mayence, or any portion whatever of the territory on the left
of the Moselle, in order to enable Holland to carry, as far as
possible to the right bank of the river Meuse, the frontier that
she is to have on that river ; that the requests for increase of
territory which Bavaria, Hesse, Brunswick, and particularly
Hanover, shall make (with the understanding that these de-
mands shall bear only upon vacant territories), should be
seconded, in order to render as small as possible the portion of
vacant countries that shall remain for Prussia.

It is said that the allies have a plan, according to which
Luxembourg and Mayence would belong to the confederation,,
and be occupied by federal troops. That plan would seem to
suit the personal interests of France, and, for that reason, the
king's ambassadors should, when supporting it, avoid doing so in
a manner to raise suspicion.

Every confederation is a republic, and, to be well constituted,
should have the spirit of one. Therefore, a confederation of
princes could never be well constituted, for the spirit of the

' Louis XVIII. was by his mother, Marie-Josephe of Saxony, first cousin of the.
king Frederick-Augustus.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 179

republic tends towards equality, and that of the monarch
towards independence. But the question is not to give a perfect
organization to the German confederation ; it suffices to give her
such an one, that it will have the effect of preventing :

1. The oppression of subjects in the small states.

2. The oppression of the small states by the larger ones.

3. And the influence of the latter to change itself into
domination, in such a manner that one or several of them could,
for the furtherance of their own views, dispose of the power
of all.

But these results can only be obtained by dividing power in
the small states, and in the confederation, if it be concentrated
in the latter, by having it change hands, and pass successively
through as many hands as possible.

This is all that can be said here on the future federal
organization of Germany. The king's ambassadors will not
need to draw the plan of it. It will be sufficient for them to
know in what spirit it should be made, and after what standard
they should judge those on which they shall be called upon to
decide.

The re-establishment of the realm of Poland, would be a
good and very great improvement, but only under the three
following conditions :

1. That it be independent ;

2. That it have a strong constitution ;

3. That it be not necessary to compensate Prussia and Austria
for the part that had respectively fallen to them.

Those conditions are all impossible, and the second more so
than the two others.

In the first place, Russia does not wish for the re-establisjbment
of Poland, in order to lose what she has acquired of it. iSIie wishes
it so as to acquire what she does not possess of it. rhos^ to re-
establish Poland in order to give it entirely to Russia, and carry
the population of the latter, in Europe, to forty-four millions of
subjects, and extend her frontiers to the Oder, that would mean
creating so great and imminent a danger for Europe, that
although we must do everything to preserve peace, if the exe-
cution of such a plan could only be stopped by force of arms,
not a single moment should be lost in taking them up. It
would be vainly hoped that Poland, thus united to Russia, would
detach herself from her of her own accord. It is not certain that
she would wish to do so, it is less certain still that she could,
and it is certain that, if she could, and would do so at a given
time, she would escape one yoke, only to carry a new one ; for
Poland restored to independence would be invincibly delivered to

N 2

i8o THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

anarchy. The size of the country excludes the existence of an
aristocracy properly speaking, and there can exist no monarchy
where the people are without civil liberty, and where the nobles
possess political liberty or be independent, and where anarchy
do not reign. Reason alone tells it and the history of all Europe
proves it. Thus, how on re-establishing Poland can political
liberty be taken from the nobles, or civil liberty be given to the
people .'' The latter could not be given by a declaration or by a
law, it is but a vain word, if the people, to whom it is given,
have no independent means of existence, no property, no
industry, and no arts, all of which no declaration nor law can
give, and which can only be the work of time. Anarchy was
a condition from which Poland could emerge only by the aid of
an absolute power ; and as there did not exist in her the elements
of that power, it was necessary that it came to her from outside,
that is to say, that she fell under conquest. And she fell under
it as soon as her neighbours wished, and the progress that has
been made by those portions of her, that have been allotted to
nations more advanced in civilization, proves that it was fortunate
for them to have fallen in their power. Let her be restored to
independence and be given a king no longer elective but heredi-
tary ; let there be added all imaginable institutions ; the less free
the latter shall be, and the more they shall be opposed to the
genius, customs, and recollections of the nobles who shall have to
be submitted to them by force — and where is that force to come
from 1 And on the other hand, the more liberty is given to those
institutions the more inevitably Poland will be plunged anew in
anarchy, to end anew by being conquered. All this is because
there is in that country like two peoples for whom there must be
two institutions that exclude each other. Not being able to
arrange that these two peoples be as one, nor to create the one
power that could conciliate all ; being on the other hand, without
evident peril to Europe, unable to give all Poland to Russia (and
the mere addition of the duchy of Warsaw to that which she
already possesses would mean giving her all Poland), what better
can be done than to replace things in the same state in which
they were before the last division 1 That would be all the more
advisable that it would put an end to the pretensions of Prussia
on the realm of Saxony ; for it is only as compensation, for what
she should not recover, in the event of the re-establishment of
Poland, that she dares to ask for Saxony.

Austria would also surely demand compensation for the five
millions of subjects that the two Gallicias contain, or if she did
not ask for it, she would become all the more exacting in all
questions relative to Italy.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. i8i

If nevertheless, contrary to all probability, the Czar of Russia
consented to renounce that which he possesses of Poland (and it
is clear that he could not do so without exposing himself to
personal dangers on the part of the Russians), and if it were
wished to make an experiment, the king, without expecting any
favourable result from it, would not oppose it. In that case,, it
would be desirable that the King of Saxony, already sovereign of
the duchy of Warsaw, whose father and ancestors have occupied
the throne of Poland, and whose daughter was to bring the
Polish crown as portion to her husband, should be made King of
Poland.

But, with the exception of the case where Poland could be
re-established in a complete independence of each of the three
co-possessing courts, the only admissible proposition, and the
only one to which the king could consent, is (save several recti-
fications of frontiers) to restore everything in Poland on the
footing of the last division.

By remaining divided Poland will not be annihilated for
ever : the Poles no longer forming a political society shall
continue to form a family. They will no longer have the same
country, but they will have the same language, they will thus
remain united by the strongest and most durable of all links.
They will arrive under foreign dominations, at the virile age
which they have not been able to reach during nine centuries of
independence, and the moment when they attain will not be far
from that of their emancipation, when they will all converge to
the same centre.

Danzig must follow the destiny of Poland of which she
was only a warehouse ; she will have to be free, if Poland recover
her independence, or to submit again to the domination of
Prussia, if the old division be maintained. /

A disposition which could be made of the Ionian Is.ands, has
already been indicated ; it is important that those islands, and
especially that of Corfu, should belong neither to England nor to
Russia, who both covet them, nor to Austria. Corfu is the key
of the Adriatic Gulf If to the possession of Gibraltar and Malta,
England added that of Corfu, she would be absolute mistress of
the Mediterranean. Those islands would furnish Russia with a
point of aggression against the Ottoman Empire, and with a point
of support for fomenting an uprising among the Greeks. In the
hands of Austria, Corfu would serve to establish and consolidate
her dominion over Italy.

The order of Saint John of Jerusalem is without a capital,
and it might be said, without asylum, since it lost Malta. The
Catholic powers have an interest that it be restored and re-

l82 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

suscitated from its ruins. It is true that it ceded Malta, but it is
equally true that it did so only as the result of an invasion that
no motive of right or even of utility could justify nor excuse. It
would be to the honour of England, who, by the way, profits by
that injustice, to contribute towards a reparation by uniting with
the Catholic powers to obtain a compensation for the order.
Corfu could be given her without compromising the interests of
any Christian state. It will ask the possession of it, and the king's
ambassadors shall support this claim.

The island of Elba, being a possession which, at the death of
him who occupies it, shall become vacant, and only at the time
when it shall become so, could be restored to its former masters,
Tuscany and Naples, or given alone to Tuscany.

The future of all countries under conquest, of those which are
not vacant, of those which are, and of those which will become
so, shall thus be completely settled.

In some of those countries, certain Frenchmen possessed,
by right of endowment, estates which the treaty of May 30th
caused them to lose. That harsh measure, which might be con-
sidered as unjust, relative to the endowments, situated in those
countries that had been ceded, has been aggravated by the retro-
active effect that was given it, in applying it to rents and revenues
fallen due. The king's ambassador shall protest against such
injustice, and shall do all in their power that it be repaired. The
sovereign allies having given occasion to hope that they shall
make, and several having already made exceptions to the clause
which deprived the donors of their endowments, the king's
ambassadors shall again do all in their power in order that
that favour be extended and accorded to as many donors as
possible.

As to the right of navigation on the Rhine and on the Scheldt,
'' as they are to be the same for all, France has nothing to desire,
as long as they be very moderate. Owing to the free navigation
of the Rhine and of the Scheldt, France will have the advantages
that the possession of the countries crossed by those rivers would
have given her, and which she has renounced, and will not have
the charges of their possession. She cannot thus reasonably
regret it.

The question of the abolition of the slave-trade is decided
relative to France, who, on that point, has no more concessions
to make, for, if it were asked simply to remove or merely abridge
the agreed delay, she could not consent. But the king has
promised to unite all his efforts to those of England so as to
obtain that the universal abolition of slavery be pronounced.
That promise must be discharged because it has been made, and

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 183

because it is of importance to France to have England on her
side in the questions that interest her the most.

England, who has given herself up to conquest outside of
Europe, carries a conservative spirit in the affairs of Europe.
That proceeds, perhaps, simply from her insular position that
does not permit of any territory be added to her own, and from
her relative weakness that would not enable her to retain on the
Continent the conquests she might already have made there.
But, be it with her necessity or virtue, she has shown herself to
be animated with a conservative spirit, even towards France, her
rival, under the reign of Henry VIII., of Elizabeth, of Queen
Anne, and perhaps also at a much more recent period.

France bringing before the congress only thorough conser-
vative views, has then occasion to hope thatEngland will second
her, provided that she herself satisfy England on the points
she has most at heart, and England has nothing more at heart
than the abolition of slavery. That which was, in the origin,
but a matter of interest and speculation, has become for the
English people a passion carried to fanaticism, and one which
the ministry is no longer at liberty to check ; that is why the king's
ambassadors shall give every satisfaction to England on that point,
in pronouncing themselves frankly and energetically for the
abolition of slavery. But if Spain and Portugal, which are the
only powers that have not yet bound themselves in that direction,
consented only to cease the slave-trade after the expiration of a
delay of more than five years, and if that delay were granted, the
king's ambassadors should arrange that France be admitted to
take advantage of it.

The present instructions are not given to the king's ambas-
sadors as an absolute rule from which they must not deviate in
any degree. They can relinquish that which is of a less interest
to obtain that which is of a greater one. The points the most
important to France are classified according to their relative
importance as follows —

1. That no opportunity be left to Austria to obtain possssion
for the princes of her house, or rather for herself, of the estates
of the King of Sardinia.

2. That Naples be restored to Ferdinand IV. That the
whole of Poland do not or cannot pass under the sovereignty of
Russia.

3. That Prussia neither acquire the realm of Saxony, at least
in totality, nor Mayence.

In making concessions on the other points, the king's
ambassadors will make them bear only on simple utility and
not on obligation ; in the first place, because, for nearly the

184- THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

totality of the points to be decided by the confess, right
results from one and the same principle, and that to forego that
principle with regard to one point, would be to forego it with
regard to all ; in the second place, because recent times have
left impressions that it is of importance to efface. France is such
a powerful state, that other nations can be tranquillized only
by the idea of her moderation — an idea which they will form
all the more easily, that she shall have given them a greater
one of her justice.

The king having decided on having at the congress several
representatives of his will, which must be one ; his intention
is, that no overture, proposal, or concession be made except
with the consent of his Minister of Foreign Affairs, who himself
is to go to Vienna, and only inasmuch as he shall have decided
what overtures, proposals, and concessions should be made.

Approved : signed, LOUIS.
And below : signed : Prince de Talleyrand.
Paris, August, 1814.

SUPPLEMENTARY INSTRUCTIONS

From the King to his Ambassadors and Plenipoten-
tiary Ministers at the Congress of Vienna.

The king, conforming to the instructions given to his plenipo-
tentiary ministers before their departure for the Vienna Congress,
and informed by their correspondence of an agreement formed
between Russia and Prussia to establish the semblance of Poland
under Russian dependence, and to increase Prussia by Saxony,
has judged it advisable to address to his plenipotentiaries the
following supplementary instructions : —

It appearing that the same reasons that induced his Majesty
to think that the aggrandizement of Russia by Poland submitted
to her dependence, and the union of Saxony to the Prussian
monarchy, would be equally contrary to the principles of justice
and of public law, and to the establishment of a system of solid
and durable equilibrium in Europe, have been taken into con-
sideration by other powers, and that it will be possible perhaps to
cause, without disturbing the peace, Russia and Prussia to adopt
views more moderate and more consonant with the general
interest of Europe, by an agreement formed in opposition to
that which now exists between them ; his Majesty authorizes his
plenipotentiaries to declare to the Austrian and Bavarian plenipo-
tentiaries that their courts can count on the most active military

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE— THE RESTORATION. 185

co-eperation, on his part, to oppose the views of Russia and
Prussia, as well on Poland as on Saxony. The king's pleni-
potentiary ministers can confide the contents of the present
instructioms to the English plenipotentiaries, if they be of
opinion that that might determine the cabinet of St. James
to act in concert with France, Austria, and Bavaria, or at
least, to remain neutral. It would be especially well to make
this confidence to Count von Miinster,i the Hanoverian
plenipotentiary.

Signed, LouiS.
And underneath : —

The State-minister, charged ad interim with the portfolio of
Foreign Affairs.

Signed, COMTE FRANfOIS DE JaUCOURT.

Paris, October 11, 1814.

^ Ernest-Frederick, Count von Miinster, born at Osnabriick (Hanover) ; in 1766,
he became intimate councillor of the Elector of Hanover, King of England. He was
appointed minister at St. Petersburg. When Hanover fell into Napoleon's hands
Miinster took refuge at London. King George entrusted him with various important
diplomatic missions. In 1 8 14, he represented the Elector of Hanover at the Con-
gress of Vienna, and in the following year he was placed at the head of the
Hanoverian government. He remained in charge of it until 1830, and died in 1841.

END OF THE SEVENTH PART.

APPENDICES.

Appendix I.

We subjoin here an account of the mission of M. de Vitrolles
in 1 8 14, drawn up by the Due de Dalberg. This document,
written throughout in the duke's own hand, was found among the
papers of the Prince de Talleyrand.

The mission of M. de Vitrolles to the Congress of Chitillon
was only undertaken as a means of obtaining the information de-
sired at Paris, as to the final intentions of the allies with regard
to the Emperor.

There existed in Paris neither plan nor conspiracy against
the emperor ; but the conviction was unanimous that his power
was undermined by his follies and extravagances, and that he
would himself be the victim of his foolish resistance and of
policy of continual deception !

Anxiety as to the future was increasing.

Baron Louis said to M. de Dalberg one day : " The man
[meaning the emperor] is a corpse, but he does not stink yet :
that's the fact of the matter." The enemy was then thirty
leagues from Paris.

Propositions offered by the Emperor Alexander to the
Grand Duchesse de Baden, and insinuations let fall by him
to Bernadotte and Eugene de Beauharnais, were well known
at Paris.

The intrigues of Fouche with the family of Murat were
suspected ; in the south, the Due dAngouleme was ap-
proaching ; the Due de Berry was intriguing in Bretagne ; the
Comte d'Artois had drawn near from the frontiers of Germany,
and was even already at Basel ! Risings had occurred at
Vesoul and Troyes ! People were so weary in France of the

APPENDICES. 187

excessive military despotism of the emperor, and expected so
little concession from him, that it began to be a serious question
as to how far the crisis brought about by him would drag France
and Europe. It was no longer an ordinary war ; the nations
were in motion. This situation alarmed every one; and its
solution was sought on all sides !

Communications with the English papers were opened up
by M. Martin, commissionaire of the police at Boulogne, who
sent them to M. de Pradt ! In the Ministries of War and
Foreign Affairs he had been forbidden, especially by M. de
Talleyrand, to communicate them.

The latter desired to know what the allied powers would do
as a last resource ; he spoke of it to M. de Dalberg ; the advice
of the latter, was to ascertain this by sending some agent to
M. de Stadion and M. de Nesselrode.

The choice fell on M. de VitroUes, a friend of M. Mollien
and M. de Hauterive, at this time a man who had very pro-
nounced opinions on the progress of constitutional ideas, on
which he had written a very good pamphlet, which he published
later.

M. de Vitrolles set out ; his instructions were limited to
this : he was 'to go to Chitillon to expose to the Comte de
Stadion or M. de Nesselrode, the danger which existed for
every one in pronouncing no definite decision, and to return to
Paris bring back the reply to the question of the maintaining
the power of the emperor.

M. de Vitrolles, believing that there were more facilities for
reaching Chitillon by the north route, and by skirting the
armies, only arrived at Chitillon on March 10, 1814.

He introduced himself to M. de Stadion, and proved his
identity to him by recognizing two names written in his album
(they were the names of two sisters, whom the^writer and reader
had both known at Vienna).

He declared to M. de Stadion that the state of opinion in
France and the dispositions of several people demanded a
change ; and legislative guarantees against the violence and
character of the emperor, that it was important to force a speedy
decision, in order that the war might not take a turn which
should defer peace for long.

M. de Stadion promised to return to Troyes, where the
political cabinet of the allies was, and where the emperor and
the King of Prussia were to be found.

He set out with a letter from M. de Stadion to M. de
Mettemich, of which the contents were : — " That he wished
without unnecessary circumlocution to inform him of the

1 88 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

unanimous opinion of the powers, viz., that they considered
Bonaparte was a man with whom it was impossible to treat any-
longer ; that on the day that he experienced reverses, he appeared
to cede everything ; that when he gained some slight success,
he returned to pretensions as exaggerated as inadmissible ; that
it was therefore desirable that another sovereign should be
appointed in France, and that affairs should be regulated in
such a manner as to give Russia, Austria, and France, an equal
weight in Europe ; that Prussia should remain a divided power,
less strong than each of the three others, that with regard to the
new sovereign to be appointed for France, it was impossible to
think of the Bourbons, because of the personal peculiarities of
these princes."

We must here mention that M. de Vitrolles' policy was for
France and Europe to be tranquillized by the re-establishment
of the House of Bourbon, with a charter guaranteeing to
France the enjoyment of public liberty.

He was on intimate terms with Madame Etienne de Durfort,
and from her he had received on setting out, a message for the
Comte d'Artois, which would give him access to him, and win
his confidence.

M. de Vitrolles saw M. de Nesselrode after an interview
with Prince de Metternich. He received almost the same
information from' him. He was at the same time told that
nothing could dissuade the allies from acting unanimously, and
in perfect agreement, till the general peace was established on a
firm footing ; that no intrigue would gain a hearing.

After a few days M. de Vitrolles solicited M. de Nesselrode
for an interview with the Emperor of Russia. That minister
told him that he had already thuoght of this himself, and that
he was afraid it would prove rather difficult ; he nevertheless
obtained him this interview, by informing the emperor that
M. de Vitrolles was on terms of close relation with M. de
Talleyrand, M. de Pradt, and M. de Dalberg. The emperor
repeated almost the same things as the ministers. He said that
he had at first thought of establishing Bernadotte in France,
and afterwards of placing Beauharnais there ; but that motives
of a different nature forbade this : that, for the rest, his intention
was above all to consult the wish of the French themselves, and
that should they even wish to establish a republic, it would
perhaps be permitted.

The emperor expatiated at even greater length than the
plenipotentiaries on the impossibility of thinking of the Bour-
bons, and on the ill that the sovereigns had said of them.

M. de Vitrolles, according to his own account, had a sudden

APPENDICES. 189

inspiration at this point, and invited the emperor, instead of
following the ordinary operations of war, to march at once
on Paris ; for that he could there judge of the state of public
opinion.

M. Pozzo di Borgo assures us for his part, that it was he who
persuaded the emperor to this step, and persons who were
qualified to know, declare that the emperor refused to decide
anything, without having first consulted M. de Talleyrand,
and that it was his advice that would have to be followed as to
the future of France. M. de Vitrolles left the emperor with the
words, " Sire, our conversation of to-day will have fresh results
for Europe ; I set out to-morrow in person for head-quarters."

As a matter of fact, he did start on the morrow, in order to
confer with Prince Schwarzenberg.

After the capture of Paris, M. de Nesselrode went, in the
morning, to M. de Talleyrand, to whose chambers M. de Dalberg
had also been summoned. The emperor entered Paris at mid-
day, and lodged with M. de Talleyrand.

M. de Vitrolles also saw the Emperor of Austria, who told
him that he was about to return to Dijon, that the Emperor of
Russia and the King of Prussia would take at Paris the course
that circumstances indicated, and that he should be there himself
afterwards.

M. de Vitrolles, instead of returning to Paris, returned to
Monsieur. He heard, on the road, of some fresh success for
Bonaparte ; that the negotiations at Chitillon had been
affected by the news, and that the Count dArtois was at
Nancy. He arrived there on March 23.

I give no account of his doings at Paris, where he only
arrived several days after the allies, after having written to M.
de Talleyrand a letter in the name of Monsieur, who found
fault with his having been allowed to express wishes for a
constitutional regime.

Appendix II.

On the day after the sitting of the senate, M. de Talleyrand
received the following letter from Benjamin Constant. This letter
was found among the papers of the Prince de Talleyrand.

" You have gloriously solved a long puzzle, and however
strange, however inconvenient, this manner of congratulating you
may be I cannot resist thanking you for having at once broken
the power of tyranny and laid down some basis for liberty.

I90 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Without the one, I should not have been able to thank you for
the other. 1789 and 18 14 are glorious annals in your life. You
resemble Maurice of Saxony in history, and you will not die at
the moment of success. You will not accuse me of addressing
this homage to your prosperity only. The past ought to save
me from being thus suspected. There is also no personal
motive in what I do. I left France to escape a yoke I could
not destroy, and although I endeavoured to be reconciled to
her, in order to serve her, bonds that are dear to me keep me
elsewhere. But it is pleasant to me to express my admiration,
when feeling it for one, who is at once the saviour, and the most
courteous, of Frenchmen : I write this after having read the basis
of the proposed constitution.

" Pardon me if I add no title to those you already have :
Europe and history will readily award them you : but the finest
will always be that of President of the Senate.

"With homage and respect.

" Benjamin Constant.

"■Aiiril^rd, 1814."

Appendix III.

The following letter was addressed by Fouch^ to the emperor
at the moment when he had just accepted the sovereignty of the
Isle of Elba, which the allied sovereigns had offered him. As the
letter enclosed indicates, this note reached the emperor through the
hands of Prince Talleyrand, amongst whose papers it was found.

" I have the honour to forward to your Highness two letters
in place of the one I had promised.

I thought fit to communicate to Monsieur the letter I have
written to Bonaparte.

I have added some reflections which I thought needful under
the circumstances ; your Highness knows that those whose
anxieties I share, suspect me of pusillanimous transactions.

I shall return to your Highness at half-past five, and shall
have the honour of dining with you : your Highness may take
it for granted that I shall seize every possible opportunity of
seeing you and profiting by your conversation.

" Signed: THE Duc d' Otrante.
April lyd, 181 4.

" P.S. — I beg your Highness to be so good as to forward the
letter to Bonaparte, when it has been communicated to
Monsieur."

appendices. 191

" Sire,

"When France and a part of Europe were at
your feet, I ventured, even at the risk of displeasing you, to
consistently tell you the truth, for your own interests. To-day
you are in misfortune, and, though I fear to wound you yet
more if I speak sincerely, I yet owe it as being both useful, and
even necessary, to you.

" You have accepted the isle of Elba, and its sovereignty.
I am lending an attentive ear to all that is said of this sovereignty
and this island. I think I owe it to you, to assure you that its
situation in Europe suits yours but little, and that the title of
sovereign of some acres of land, still less befits him who possessed
an immense empire.

" I beg you to weigh these two considerations, and you will
feel how well founded they both are.

" The island of Elba is not very far from Africa, Greece, and
Spain. It nearly touches the coasts of Italy and France ; from
this island, the sea, the wind, and a felucca, can quickly transport
you to all the countries that are most liable to outbreaks,
revolts, and revolutions. To-day there is no stability anywhere.
In the present uneasy state of Europe, a genius such as yours
will always cause uneasiness and suspicion to the powers.

"You will be accused without being guilty, but without .being
guilty, you will do wrong, for these alarms are bad both for
governments and people.

" The king now about to reign over France, wishes to reign
by justice alone ; but you know how clever hatred can be in
giving to slander the colour of truth !

"The titles which you preserve, and which cause you to
remember what you have lost, only serve to embitter your
recollections : they will seem not the relic, but many empty
badges of vanished grandeurs. I say more : without honouring
you, they will bring you more prominently into notice. They will
say that you only retain these titles, because you refuse to let slip
any of your pretensions. They will say that the rock of Elba
is the fulcrum for placing the levers with which to lift the
world. Permit me to tell you what I think about it, after
mature reflection. It would be more glorious, and more con-
soling for you, to live as a simple citizen ; and to-day, the
surest, and the most comfortable, refuge for a man like you,
would be the United States of America.

" There you would begin your existence anew, among a new
people ; they would admire your genius, without fearing it. You
would be under the prptection of laws that are just and inviolable
towards everything that breathes, in the land of the Franklins,

192 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

the Washingtons, and the Jeffersons. You would prove to these
people, that if you had been born amongst them, you would have
had the same thoughts, feelings, and aspirations, as they ; that
you would have preferred their virtues and liberty, to those of
all the other dominions on earth.

"I have the honour to be your Majesty's most humble and
respectful servant.

"{Signed) THE DuC D'Otrante.

"Paris, April ii, 1814.

" P.S. — I must inform your Majesty that I have asked no
one's advice as to writing this letter, nor have I received any
instructions."

APPENDIX IV.

At this point a long note in the manuscript is inserted, written
probably by M. de Bacourt, according to a chapter of M. de Cape-
figue's work, The History of the Treaties of 1815. The author
states that the Emperor Napoleon had accepted the ultimatum, of
the allies at the Chdtillon Congress, and that the conditions obtained
by M. de Talleyrand on the ■3,0th of May, after the fall of the
Empire, were m.uch better.

On the 17th of February, 1814, the Chatillon Congress
decided the formula of the treaty to be proposed to the Emperor
Napoleon, and Prince Metternich sent it to M. de Caulaincourt.
Here it is ; —

" In the name of the Most Holy and Indivisible Trinity.

" Their Imperial Majesties of Austria and Russia, His
Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, and His Majesty the King of Prussia, acting in the
name of all their allies, on the one side, and His Majesty the
Emperor of the French on the other, wishing to cement the
repose and future welfare of Europe by a solid and lasting peace,
by land and sea ; and having, with a view to this end, collected
their plenipotentiaries at Chatillon to discuss the conditions of
this peace, the said plenipotentiaries have agreed on the following
articles : —

" Article I. — There shall be peace and amnesty between
their Imperial Majesties of Austria and Russia, His Majesty the
King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and
His Majesty the King of Prussia, acting at the same time in the

APPENDICES. 193

name of all their allies, and His Majesty the Emperor of the
French, their heirs and successors for ever.

" The high contracting parties engage themselves to employ
all their influence in maintaining, for the future happiness of
Europe, the good harmony, so happily established among them.

"Article II. — His Majesty the Emperor of the French,
renounces for himself and his successors, all acquisitions,
alliances, or incorporations, made by France since the com-
mencement of the war in 1792.

" His Majesty equally renounces all actual authority, direct
or indirect, beyond the ancient limits of France, as established
before the war of 1792, as well as to all titles derived from them,
namely, to those of King of Italy, King of Rome, Protector of
the Rihne Confederation, and Mediator of the Swiss Con-
federation.

"Article III. — The high contracting parties formally and
solemnly recognize the principle of the sovereignty and in-
dependence of all the states of Europe, as they shall be definitely
constituted in the final treaty of peace.

"Article IV. — His Majesty the Emperor of the French
formally recognizes the following reconstitution of the countries
bordering on France : —

" I. Germany, composed of independent states, united
by a federal tie.

" 2. Italy, divided into independent states, situated be-
tween the Austrian possessions and France.

" 3. Holland, under the sovereignty of the House of
Orange, with an increase of territory.

" 4. Switzerland, a free and independent state, replaced
in its old limits, and under the protection of all the Great
Powers, France included.

" 5. Spain, under the dominion of Ferdinand VII., in its
ancient limits.

" His Majesty the Emperor of the French further recognizes
the right of all the allied powers to determine, according to the
existing treaties between the powers, the limits and relations
of the countries ceded by France, as of their states among
themselves, without France having the power to interfere in any
way.

" Article V. — On his side, his Britannic Majesty consents to
restore to France (with the exception of the Isles called Saintes)
all the conquests which have been made by her during the war,
and which are at present in the power of his Britannic Majesty,
in the West Indies, in Africa, and in America.

VOL. IL ' O

194 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

"The island of Tabago, in accordance with Article II. of the
present treaty, will continue to belong to Great Britain, and the
allies promise to do their best to persuade their Majesties of
Sweden and Portugal to put no obstacle in the way of the
restoration of Guadeloupe and Cayenne to France.

"All the settlements and factories taken by conquest from
France to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, with the excep-
tion of the isles of Saint-Maurice (a French island), of Bourbon,
and their dependencies, shall be restored to her. France shall
not re-enter those of the above-mentioned settlements and
factories which are situated in the continent of India, and
within the boundaries of British possessions, unless she re-
cognize them as commercial settlements alone, and she promises
in consequence to construct no fortifications, and never to settle
any garrisons, or military forces of any kind whatever, beyond
what may be necessary for maintaining police in the said settle-
ments.

" The restitutions above-mentioned, in Asia, Africa, and
America, will not include any possession which was not com-
pletely under the dominion of France, before the commencement
of the war of 1792.

" The French government promises to forbid the importation
of slaves into all the colonies and possessions restored by the
present treaty, and to forbid her subjects, by the most efficacious
means, to engage in the traffic of negroes at all.

" The island of Malta, with its dependencies, will remain
entirely under the dominion of his Britannic Majesty.

"Article VI. — His Majesty the Emperor of the French will
give up, immediately after the ratification of the present pre-
liminary treaty, all fortresses and forts of the countries ceded,
as well as those which his troops still occupy in Germany, without
exception, Mayence being specially mentioned : those of Ham-
burg, Anvers, Berg-op-Zoom, are to be ceded in the space of six
days ; Mantoue, Palma-Nuova, Venice, and Peschiera, and the
fortified places of the Oder and the Elbe, in fifteen days ;
all other forts and fortresses, with the shortest delay possible,
which must not exceed fifteen days. These forts and fortresses
are to be given up in the condition in which they now are,
with all their artillery, ammunition of war, and cannon, archives

; the French garrisons of these forts are to pass out

under arms, with their baggage and all private property.

" His Majesty the Emperor of the French will also give up
to the allied armies in the space of four days, the fortresses
of Besangon, Belfort, and Huningue, which will remain as
guarantee, till the time of the ratification of the final peace, and

APPENDICES. 195

which are to be kept in the state in which they shall have been
ceded, according as the allied armies evacuate French territory.

"Article VII. — The generals in command shall, without
delay, appoint commissioners charged with determining the line
of demarcation between the various armies.

"Article VIII. — As soon as the present preliminary treaty
shall have been accepted, and ratified by either party, hostilities
shall cease both by land and sea.

"Article IX. — The present preliminary treaty shall be
followed, with the shortest delay possible, by a definite treaty of
peace.

" Article X. — The ratifications of the preliminary treaty
shall be exchanged in four days, or sooner if possible."

M. de Caulaincourt, according to the orders of Napoleon,
tried to get better conditions than those enclosed in the projected
treaty. His hesitation, which must be attributed to the vicissi-
tudes of the strife which the Emperor Napoleon was undergoing,
now conquering, now conquered, in his encounters with the
allied armies, provoked from Prince de Metternich the following
letter, addressed to M. de Caulaincourt :

"March l8, 1814.

"Affairs are taking a very unfavourable turn. Monsieur le
Due. The day that a definite decision for peace shall have been
arrived at, with its indispensable sacrifices, come to sign it, but
not to be the interpreter of inadmissible projects. The points
at issue are too important for it to be possible to add further
romances to the Emperor's life without his incurring great
dangers. What do the allies risk .■" At the very worst, after the
greatest reverses, they can only be forced to quit the territory
of old France. What will the Emperor Napoleon have gained ?
The people of Belgium are making enormous efforts at the
present time. All the left bank of the Rhine is to be put undei
arms. Savoy, spared hitherto, in order to leave it at the disposal
of the first comer, will be forced to revolt, and there will be some
very personal attacks against the Emperor Napoleon, which can
no longer be prevented.

" You will see that I speak frankly, as a man of peace. 1
shall always be on this side. You should know our views, prin-
ciples, and wishes. The first are European, and therefore, French
the .second tend to interest Austria in the well-being of France
the third are in favour of a dynasty as firmly bound togethei
as hers.

" I have shown you, my dear Due, the most complete con-
fidence, in order to put an end to the dangers which threater

O 2

196 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

France ; it still depends, on your master, as to whether peace is
to be made ; very shortly, perhaps, it will no longer be in
his power. The throne of Louis XIV. with the additions of
Louis XV. has a fairly good chance of not being summarily
judged. I will do all 1 can to retain Lord Castlereagh a few
days. If this minister is once allowed to depart, there will be
no more question of peace.

" Be pleased to accept

"Prince de Metternicii."

This letter is important : it shows the position of Austria,
who can no longer stand aloof, and must go with the allies : the
latter are marching on Paris. It was then alone that Napoleon
decided to accept the conditions of the allies. The fact of his
having accepted them has been denied ; it is said that the
emperor refused the humiliating terms proposed by the allies.
This is not true : he accepted them, late indeed, but he did
accept them.

The following is the letter of M. de Caulaincourt, addressed
to Prince de Metternich. which was despatched on the 25th
of March by M. de Gallebois, orderly of Marshal Berthier : —

"DoULEVENT, March 25, 1814.
" I only reached the emperor to-night. His Majesty imme-
diately gave me his final orders for the conclusion of the peace.
He gave me at the same time all the powers necessary for
negotiating and signing it with the ministers of the allied courts,
this means being, in reality, better than any other for assuring
its speedy accomplishment. I therefore hasten to inform you
that I am ready to return to headquarters, and await the reply
of your Majesty at the outposts. Our zeal will prove to the
allied powers how strongly the emperor is bent on peace, and
that on the part of France, no delay will be imposed on the
salutary work which is to ensure the peace of the world.

" Caulaincourt, Due de Vicence."

This letter is dated the 25th of March, a month after the
ultimatum of the allies : a second letter, also from M. de Cau-
laincourt to M. de Metternich, was sent off on the same day ; it
agreed to everything : —

"My Prince, —

" I have only just arrived, and hasten to execute
the commands of the emperor, and to put in my letter all that I
owe to the confidence displayed in yours.

"The emperor authorizes me to renew the negotiations in

APPENDICES. 197

the frankest and most positive manner. I therefore ask for
the facilities that you have led me to expect, that I may-
arrive as soon as possible. Do not leave to others, my prince,
the care of restoring peace to the world. There is no reason
why it should not be done in four days, if your genius presides,
and if they are as frank as ourselves in their wishes for it. Let
us use the occasion, and many faults and misfortunes will be
remedied. Your task, my prince, is glorious, mine will be very
painful ; but since the repose and good of so many people will
result from it, I shall put no less zeal and devotion into it, than
you.

" CaULAINCOURT, Due DE ViCENCE."

This is what is certain, and is stated in the documents ;
Napoleon accepted at the end of March the frontier of the old
monarchy with all the rigorous conditions laid down by the
allies ; he gave up the fortresses, and the fleet of Anvers (for
which M. de Talleyrand has been so much blamed) ; as guarantee
he gave the fortresses of Besangon, Belfort, and Huningue, which
the Bourbons did not do in 1814. That is the truth. To deny
that Napoleon definitely accepted the ultimatum of the allies at
Chitillon, is to ignore all the correspondence of M. de Caulain-
court and his ulterior negotiations at Paris.

Those who have with much simplicity written, that, in the
two restorations, there were disloyalties, and treasons without
number, have not sufficiently remarked that the first of all
treasons is the suicide of power ; when it gives the blow to itself,
is it astonishing that it is also deserted by others .''

The following truths are shown by the clearest evidence : —

1. At Prague, 18 13, Napoleon had it in his power to make
peace by giving up Illyria, and the Hanseatic towns, and
allowing the independence of Germany and Spain.

2. At Frankfort, he could have made peace (December 181 3)
by keeping the natural boundaries of the Rhine, the Alps, and
the Pyrenees.

3. At Chitillon (March, 18 14), in the midst of our mis-
fortunes, he had accepted this peace on most humiliating terms,
demanding that the ancient boundaries be kept ; the surrender
of almost all our colonies ; the occupation of Besan^on, Belfort
and Huningue by the enemy ; the surrender of the fleet of
Anvers, and of all the ammunition of the garrisons.

4. By the treaties of April 24rd and May 30th, 1814, the
Bourbons gained a greater frontier for France, and at the
Congress of Vienna, M. de Talleyrand succeeded in regaining
the preponderance of France in Europe.

PART VIII.

CONGRESS OF VIENNA.

1814 — 1815.

Talleyrand's arrival at Vienna — Dispositions of the Allies towards France —
The position of the French plenipotentiaries at the Congress — Difficul-
ties to be contended with — Opening of the Congress— ;;prhe intentions of
the first-class Powers — Talleyrand finds unhoped-for support in Spain
and the second-class Powers — Want of courtesy towards Talleyrand —
Defeats the aim of the Allies — The first meeting of the Congress
attended by Talleyrand — Prince Mettemich's speech — Talleyrand's
reply — Puissances Allies — Count de Labrador's motion in support of
Talleyrand's proposals — Embarrassment of the plenipotentiaries of the
Allied Powers — The Congress agrees to the annulling of the protocols of
the preceding sittings — Distribution of the work of the Congress — Change
of disposition towards France — The anniversary service of the death of
Louis XVL — The Congress at work — The fate of the kingdom of

J Saxony and of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw — Prussia's designs — Talley-
rand demurs to the recognition of her claims — The sacred principle of
legitimacy — Suum cuique — The corruption of the public law of Europe
— Growing tendency to uphold usurpations — Indifference of the Allies as
to the rights of the House of Bourbon — Obstacles encountered by
Talleyrand in enforcing the triumph of legitimacy — Hostile attitude of
Russia towards France — Compromise offered — " I am not here to
strike a bargain ! " — " No compromise with principles ! " — England
backs up the views of Russia and Prussia gn Saxony — Her delusion —
Doubtful attitude of Austria — Talleyrand wins her support — He succeeds
in dispelling the prejudices of England — A secret alliance between

•I France, Austria, and England, against Russia and Prussia — The
prestige of principles — Discord among the Allies — Prussia gives way —
Napoleon's return from Elba — Anxiety of the Congress — The Comtesse
de Briome — " Politics must wait ! " — Indecision of the King of Saxony —
His interview with Metternich, Wellington, and Talleyrand — A plenipo-
tentiary of Saxony at the Congress — Russia compelled to desist — The

^deliberations of the Congress concerning Poland — France disposed to
J admit the restoration of independent Poland — Russia's ministers give J

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 199

in — Ferdinand IV. and Murat — Tlie latter defeated by the Austrians —
Talleyrand created Due of Dino — Sardinia and the House of Carignan
— Switzerland's neutrality — The Netherlands — The German Confedera-
tion— Louis XVIII. at Ghent — The Congress, at Talleyrand's suggestion,
denounces the usurper — The Powers rush to arms — Louis XVIII.
admitted to the Alliance of Europe against Napoleon- — Correspondence
exchanged between Louis XVIII. and Talleyrand at the Congress —
Text of the secret Treaty of Defensive Alliance, concluded January 3,
1 81 5, between Austria, France, and Great Britain — Napoleon acquaints
the Czar Alexander with the text of the above-mentioned Treaty —
Interview between Alexander and Prince Mettemich — Napoleon's aims
defeated— Indulgence of the Czar for Prince Mettemich — The Czar
Alexander incensed at Talleyrand's duplicity.

I ARRIVED at Vienna September 23, 18 14. I went down to
the " H6tel Kaunitz," which had been hired for the French
legation. On entering, the .porter handed me several letters
addressed : — " To Prince Talleyrand, Hotel Kaunitz!' The two
names thus side by side appeared to me a good omen. The
day after my arrival, I presented myself at the houses of the
members of the diplomatic corps. They all seemed to me
rather surprised at the little advantage they had derived from
the capitulation of Paris. They had just traversed countries that
had been ravaged by war for many years, in which they had
heard, they said, but words of hatred and vengeance against
France, for having overwhelmed them with taxes, and treated
them with the arrogance of a victor. My new colleagues assured
me that they had been reproached everywhere for their weakness
in signing the treaty of Paris. I therefore did not find them
very enthusiastic over the satisfaction to be derived from
generosity, but rather disposed to excite each other about the
pretensions they were to advance. Each was perusing the treaty
of Chaumont, which liad not only tightened the bonds of an
alliance destined to last for the present war, but had also laid
down conditions for an alliance which should survive the present
war, and bind the allies together even in the remote future.
And moreover, how could they make up their minds to admit
to the council of Europe, the very power against which Europe
had been in arms during twenty years. The minister of a
country so newly reconciled, they said, ought to think himself

200 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

very fortunate in being allowed to give in his assent to the reso-
lutions of the ambassadors of the other powers.

Thus, at the opening of the negotiations, all the cabinets
regarded themselves as being, notwithstanding the peace, in
an attitude which, if not hostile, was at least very equivocal,
with France ! They all thought, more or less, that it would
have been to their interest that she should have been more
enfeebled still. Unable to do anything in that direction, they
endeavoured to diminish, at least, her influence. I saw that they
all agreed on those various points.

It remained for me to hope that there would be among
the powers some divergence of opinion, when they came to
distribute the numerous territories that the war had put at
their disposal, each one desiring, either to obtain for himself or
to give to the states dependent upon her, a considerable portion
of the conquered territories. It was specially desired, at the
same time, to exclude from the division those countries which
it was feared would prove too independent. That variety of
contest, however, offered me but scant opportunity to interfere
with matters ; for previous arrangements, by which the disposal
of the most important territories had been regulated, existed
between the powers. To succeed in modifying those arrange-
ments, or to have them completely renounced, according to the
dictates of justice, there were more than prejudices to remove,
more than pretensions to check, more than ambition to defeat.
It was necessary to annul all that had been done without
France. For if they consented to admit us to take a share in
±he acts of the congress, it was for the sake of form only, and in
order to deprive us of the means of contesting their validity ;
but it was pretended that France should have nothing to see
in the resolutions already settled, and that were looked upon as
accomplished facts.

Before giving here, that which, in my opinion, constitutes the -(^
most faithful picture of the Vienna Congress, that is to say my \^
official correspondence with the Department of Foreign Affairs of
France, and my special correspondence with King Louis
XVIII., as well as the letters from that sovereign, during the
congress, I believe I should give a rapid but general glance

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 201

on the progress of the deliberations of that great assembly. The
details of it will subsequently be better understood.

The opening of congress had been fixed for the 1st of Octo-
ber. I had been at Vienna since September 23, but I had been
preceded there by several days, by the ministers who, having
directed the war, and repented of peace, wished to take up their
advantages again at the congress. It was not long before I
was informed that they had already formed a committee, and
were holding conferences among themselves, of which a protocol
had been prepared. Their object was to decide alone, what
ought to be submitted to the deliberations of the congress, and
that too, without the assistance of either France, Spain, or
any power of the second order ; to these however they would
afterwards communicate, in the form of a proposition what
would in reality be a resolution, viz., the different articles they
should have determined upon. I made no remonstrances. I
continued to see them, without speaking of business. I limited
myself to communicating to the ministers of the secondary
powers, who had a common interest with me, the dissatisfaction
I felt. Discovering also, in the past policy of their countries,
traces of confidence in France, they very soon looked upon
me as their support, and once assured of their assent in all
that I was about to do, I officially pressed the opening of the
congress. In my first requests I acted as though I had no
knowledge of the conferences that had been held. The opening
of the congress was fixed for a certain day. That day passed ;
I entreated that another should be fixed in the near future. I
gave it to be understood that it was necessary that I should not
remain too long absent from France. A few replies, evasive
at first, caused me to repeat my entreaties. I even went so far
as to complain a little, but was finally obliged to make use of
the personal influence that I had fortunately acquired in the
previous negotiations, over the principal personages of the
congress. Prince Metternich, and the Count Nesselrode, not
wishing to be disobliging to me, both had me invited to a
conference which was to have been held at the office of the
minister of foreign affairs. Count de Labrador, minister of
Spain, with whom I had the honour to support a common

202 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

cause in the deliberations of the congress, received the same
invitation.

I went to the office of the minister of state at tlie hour
indicated, and found there, Lord Castlereagh,^ Prince von
Hardenberg,^ Herr von Humboldt, and Herr von Gentz,^ a
man of distinguished talents, who fulfilled the functions of
secretary. The protocol of the preceding sittings was on the
table. I mention all the details of that first sitting, because it
decided the position of France at the congress. Prince Metter-
nich opened it by a few sentences on the duty of the congress
to give solidity to the peace which had just been restored to
Europe. The Prince von Hardenberg added, that in order to
consolidate the peace it was indispensable that the engagements
that followed perforce from the war should be religiously kept,
and that such was the intention of the allied powers.

Placed by the side of Prince von Hardenberg, I was naturally
forced to speak after him, and after having said a few words
on the good fortune of France in finding herself in relations of
confidence and friendship with all the cabinets of Europe, I
remarked that the Prince von Hardenberg had let fall an ex-

^ Robert Stewart, Marquis of Londonderry, Viscount Castlereaeh, born in 1769, in
Ireland, was elected at twenty-one to the Chamber of Commons. In 1797 ^^ be-
came Lord of the Privy Seal of Ireland, then secretary of the Lord Lieutenant
Camden, and member of the Privy Council of Ireland. Strongly attached to Pitt he
was appointed Minister of War, and of the Colonies in 1805. The death of Pitt
brought about the dissolution of the ministry, but Castlereagh took office a^ain in
1807. He retired in 1809. In 1812 he returned to power as Minister of Foreign
Affairs, and wai^he moving spirit of the ministry of Lord Liverpool. He had con-
siderable influence over the events of 1814 and 1815 ; he was present at the congress
aChattillon, and Vienna. He died in 1822. It is known that he committed suicide.

^ Charles- Augustus, Prince von Hardenberg, a Prussian Statesman, born in 175*^)
in Hanover. He was first in the service of the elector, passing afterwards to that
of Brunswick, and became, a short time after, minister of the Margrave of Baireuth
and Anspach. These principalities having been united to Prussia in 1791, Hardenberg
became minister of the Prussian king. In 1795 he signed the peace of Basel with
France. In 1804 he replaced Count von Haugwitz in Foreign Affairs, but resigned
after the battle of Austerlitz. He reassumed the office after the battle of Jena, but
was obliged to retire again on the peace of Tilsit. In iSio he was appointed
Chancellor of State. After the campaign of Russia he prosecuted actively tne war
against France, and was one of the signatories of the treaty of Paris. He was
presont at the Congress of Vienna. In 181 7 he became president of the State
Council, and died in 1822.

^ Frederick von Gentz, bom in 1764, was first, secretary general of the Minister
of Finance of Prussia, then counsellor at Vienna. A bitter enemy of France, he
played animportant part in European diplomacy. In 1813 he drafted the manifesto
of the powers against France, was present at the Congress of Vienna as secretary,
drafted the treaty of Paris in 1815, and attended the different congresses of the
Holy Alliance. He died in 1832.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 203

pression that appeared to me to belong to other times, for that
jff they had both of them spoken of the intentions of the allied
powers. I declared that allied powers, and a congress in which
powers that were not allied were to be found, were in my eyes
very little able to arrange affairs loyally together. I repeated
with some astonishment and even warmth, the word allied
powers . . . "allied," I said, "and against whom? It is no
longer against Napoleon — he is on the isle of Elba . .. it is no
longer against France ; for peace has been made ... it is surely
not against the King of France ; he is a guarantee of the dura-
tion of that peace. Gentlemen, let us speak frankly; if there are
still allied poivers, I am one too many here.":^I perceived that
I had produced some impression, and especially on Herr von
Gentz. I continued : " And nevertheless if I were not here, I
should decidedly be missed. Gentlemen, I am perhaps the only
one who asks nothing. Great esteem is all I would have for
France. She is sufficiently powerful by her resources, her extent
of territory, by the number and intelligence of her inhabitants,
by the contiguity of her provinces, by the unity of her adminis-
tration, by the defences with which nature and art have guaran-
teed her frontiers. I want nothing, I repeat it, but I bring you
a great deal. The presence of a minister of Louis XVIII.
consecrates here the principle upon which all social order rests.
The first need of Europe is to banish for ever the opinion that
right can be acquired by conquest alone, and^to cause the
revival of that sacred principle of legitimacy from which all order
and stability spring. To show to-day that France troubles your
deliberations, would be to say that true principles are no longer
the only ones that guide you, and that you are unwilling to be
just ; but that idea is far from me, for we all equally feel that
a simple and straightforward path is alone worthy of the noble
mission we have to fulfil. In the words of the treaty of Paris:
' Toutes les pidssances qui ont /// engages de part et d' autre dans
la presente guerre, enverront des pl^nipotentiaires a Vieniie, pour
r^gler, dans un congres general, les arraiigements qui doivent
computer les dispositions du traits de Paris! ^ When does the

1 " AH the powers who were on either side engaged in the present war, shall send ,
plenipoten'.iaries to Vienna, there to settle, at a general congress, the arrangements'
which are to complete the provisions of the treaty of Paris."

204 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

general congress open ? When do the conferences begin ?
These are questions posed by all those whose interests bring
them here. If, as is already rumoured, some privileged powers
would exercise a dictatorial authority over . the congress, I
must say that, confining myself to the terms of the treaty of
Paris, I could not consent to recognize in this assembly any
supreme power in questions that the congress is competent to
treat, and that I should heed no proposal that proceeded from
them."

After a few moments' silence, Count Labrador made, in his
proud and piquant language, a declaration almost identical
with my own. Embarrassment was depicted on every face.
They denied and explained in the same breath all that had
taken place before this meeting. I profited by this moment in
order to make a few concessions to the pride that I saw thus
hurt I said that in an assembly as numerous as the congress,
where one was obliged to occupy oneself with so many different
matters, to regulate questions of the first importance, and to
decide a host of secondary interests, it was very difficult, nay
even impossible, to reach any result by treating of all these
subjects in general assemblies, but that some means of distri-
buting and classifying all the business could be found without
wounding either the interest or the dignity of any of the powers.

This language, though vague, yet pointed out the possibility
of a particular direction being given to general business, and
thus permitted the assembled ministers to reconsider what they
had done, and to regard it all as null ; while Herr von Gentz
drew up the protocols of the previous sittings, and arranged
one for that day. That protocol constituted the reports of the
first sitting, and, in order to officially date our arrival at the
congress, I signed it. From that time there was no conference
among the great powers in which France did not take a part. .
We met the following days, to distribute the work. All the
members of the congress divided themselves into committees, that
were charged to examine the questions submitted to them. The
plenipotentiaries of those states who had a more direct interest
in the objects to be examined, joined these committees. The
most important matters and questions of general interest,

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 205

were submitted to a committee formed of the representatives of
the eight principal powers of Europe, and in order to form a
basis, it was arranged that it should be those who had signed the
treaty of May 30, 18 14. This arrangement was not only useful
because it wonderfully abridged and facilitated the work to be
done, but it was also very just, since all the members of the
congress consented to it, and no one raised objections.

Thus, at the end of the month of October, 18 14, 1 was able to
write to Paris, that the house of Bourbon, which had only returned
to France five months ago, and France herself, who had been
conquered five months previously, found themselves already
replaced to their proper place in Europe, and had again regained
that influence that belonged to them, in the most important
deliberations of the congress. And three months later these
same powers, who had done nothing to save the unfortunate
Louis XVI., were called upon by me, to render a tardy, but
solemn, homage to his memory. That homage was further a
. means of linking together the chain of events, was a new con-
secration of the legitimate rights of the house of Bourbon. I
should have said, that the Emperor and Empress of Austria
powerfully seconded me in the pious and noble ceremony, cele-
brated at Vienna, January 2 1 , 1 8 1 5 , at which were present, all the
sovereigns, and notable personages then in the capital of the
Austrian Empire.

4 The first object with which the commission of the eight powers
occupied itself, was the future lot of the king and realm of
;Saxony, and then, that of the duchy of Warsaw. Prussia for some
time had' coveted the possession of the kingdom of Saxony. In
acquiring it, she would not only have possession of a rich and
beautiful country,- but one which would greatly strengthen her
former territory. In the course of the war which had been
terminated by the peace of Paris, the allies of Prussia had
promised her, that in the forthcoming arrangements Saxony
should be assured her. Prussia consequently counted with
certainty upon that important acquisition, and already regarding
herself as sovereign of that beautiful state which her troops occu-
pied, held the King of Saxony prisoner in a Prussian fortress^
But when the proposal was made in the committee of the eight

2o6 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

powers to give it to her, I declared I could not consent to it.
1 admitted that Prussia, deprived by Napoleon of vast and
numberless possessions that she could not virholly recover, had
a right to be indemnified, but, I asked, was that a reason that
Prussia in her turn should plunder the King of Saxony ? Did not
that mean substituting for a right founded upon justice, the right
of the strongest, of which Prussia had so nearly become the
victim ? And by making use of this right, renouncing as a
matter of fact the interest her position inspired ? Did not, more-
over, the territories that the congress had to dispose of, offer
ample means of indemnity ? France wished to show herself
complying in all the arrangements that concerned the King of
Prussia, provided they were not contrary to justice ; and I
repeated that she could neither participate in, nor consent to,
any that constituted an usurpation ; while without mentioning
the interest that was attached to the person of the King of
Saxony, commanding, as he did, respect by his misfortunes, as
well as by the virtues that had shed such lustre on his reign, I
invoked in his favour, the sacred principle of legitimacy alone.

Prussia considered that all the requirements of this principle
would be satisfied by assigning to the King of Saxony some
•indemnity in the way of unoccupied territory, and that, whether
the prince thought so or not, the possession of Saxony would
be sufficiently legitimate for her, if judged so by the sovereign
allies. On what, I observed to the prince von Hardenberg, would
a recognition of that kind depend t Those who have no right
to a thing themselves, can scarcely recognize it as belonging to
another, who has equally no right to it.
*" This deplorable disregard for all principle must be attributed
to the disorganization and agitation that Europe has experienced
during twenty-five years. So many sovereigns have been de-
spoiled, so many countries have changed masters, that public
right, tainted by a sort of corruption, no longer reproves usurpa-
^ tion. The sovereigns of Europe have been forced by the sway of
irresistible circumstances, to recognize usurpers, to treat, and
even to ally themselves with them. They have thus, little by
little, been led to sacrifice their scruples to their safety; and, in
order to satisfy their ambition, when they, in their turn, found

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. ^ioj

the opportunity, they were ready themselves to become usurpers.
Respect for legitimate rights had become so weak in them,
that after the first victory over Napoleon, it was not the sove-
reigns who thought of the rights of the house of Bourbon ; they
had even several other projects upon France. And if she
recovered her kings, it was, that, as soon as she could express
her wish, she threw herself into the arms of that august family,
that brought her wisely restricted liberties and the remembrance
of a glorious past At first, the restoration had been, for the
powers who, I repeat, were present, but whose work it was
not, far more a matter of fact than of right.

When the ministers of France openly constituted themselves
at the congress as the defenders of the principle of legitimacy,
no disposition was shown to admit the consequences of it, except
in so far as they did not contradict in any way the respective
conveniences, to which it was sought to oppose a principle. Also
to get the triumph of principles, I was obliged to surmount every
obstacle, that ambition, thus foiled at the very moment of satis-
faction, might raise.

As for Prussia, she sustained her pretensions on Saxony
with ardour and tenacity. Russia, either on account of the
attachment that her sovereign bore towards the King of Prussia,
or because the price of that concession would be the possession
of the duchy of Warsaw for the Czar Alexander, supported it^
it with all its power. His ministers spoke in this vein, without
the least embarrassment.

" Arrangement is everything in politics," said one of them to
me. " Naples is your first interest ; give up Saxony, and Russia
will support you for Naples."

"You speak to me now of a bargain," I replied. " I cannot do
so. I am so fortunate as not to be quite so much at my ease
as yourself; it is your will and your interest that decide you,
while as to me, I am obliged to follow principles, and principles
do not allow of compromise."

The principal object of England, in concurring in the
views of Prussia and Russia on Saxony, appeared to be that of
fortifying by a second line of defence on the Elbe, that which
Prussia already had on the Oder, in that this power might oppose

2o8 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

a more solid barrier to enterprises, which in the end, Russia
might form against Germany. But that idea, even from a
strategic point of view, was a pure illusion.

Austria had scarcely any other determinate motive in sup-
porting the pretensions of Prussia, than that of maintaining
arrangements, which had previously been precipitately and lightly
projected in the tumult of camps. She was not even stopped
by the danger to herself in allowing Prussia to establish her-
self on the mountains of Bohemia, a danger that she scarcely
seemed to see, until France informed her of it. I found a direct
means of making the Emperor Frangois understand, without it
ppEjing through one of his ministers, that he had a grave interest,
in Saxony being preserved. The reasons I developed to the
intermediary ^ whom I employed, made a great impression on
his mind.

England very soon understood, that it would be imprudent-
^to throw a new element of enmity and discord between the two
powers which defended the borders of Germany against Russia.
Moreover for Prussia, Saxony would have been for some time
a precarious possession, and one not sufficiently submissive, but
always ready to seize opportunities for escaping from her, and
recovering her independence. It would therefore have been, for
Prussia, an acquisition that was more likely to weaken than to
strengthen her.

The question of the disposal of Saxony was thus freed from
the particular considerations which had been the motive for the
first determination of England, and, being presented to Austria
under the real point of view, under which her interest should
bring her to consider it, France found these two powers at last
disposed to listen without prejudice to the strong reasons that
she had for winning consent to her principles. When these
two powers saw that their own convenience lay in accordance
with the principles of legitimacy, they willingly recognized, that
the same principle applied to the convenience of others. They
were thus led to become its defenders also, and things very soon
arrived at such a point that a secret and contingent alliance was

^ This intermediary was Count von Siclcingen, of a noble German family which
was descended from the famous Captain Franz von Sickingen (1481-1523).

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 209

formed between France, Austria, and England, against Russia
and Prussia.^ Thus France, by the sheer force of reason and
the power of principles, broke an alliance which was only directed
against herself. (Fortunate would she have been, if the fatal
catastrophe of the 20th of March had not arrived to renew its
bonds ! 1)

The allies thus found themselves divided, whilst we had just
formed a new alliance in which France was the principal party.
The first alliance, viz. : that against Napoleon, which the allies
desired to prolong beyond the object for which it had been
contracted, could only bring them the means of satisfying their
private ambitions and views, whilst the aim of the new alliance
could be no other than that of maintaining the principles of
order, of the preservation of kingdoms and of peace. In this
way, France, who had but just ceased to be an object of dread
to all Europe, became, in a measure, her arbitrator and
moderator.

After England and Austria had once come to a decision,
Prussia was of course obliged to yield and ended by consenting
to Saxony's continued existence as a kingdom, and declaring
herself satisfied with the promise of a portion of it, subject to
the condition that it be voluntarily ceded by the sovereign of
the country. This important point once obtained, it was neces-
sary to induce the King of Saxony to make the sacrifice. I
myself, the Duke of Wellington, and Prince Metternich, were
bidden to present ourselves to the king, and endeavour to get
his consent to it. The news of the arrival of Napoleon in
France had just circulated through Vienna. It caused the
utmost excitement at the congress. We were given twenty-four
hours only in which to fulfil our painful mission. I started
immediately for Strasbourg, where the King of Saxony had
finally been allowed to reside.

The Comtesse de Brionne,^ who dwelt in this town, whither

' Tannary 3, 1815. By the treaty of France, Austria and England promised to
make common cause against the ambition of Prussia and Russia, and promised each
other an airoy of one hundred and fifty thousand men.

* Louise-Julie-Constance de Rohan, the wife of Charles-Louis de Lorraine,
Comte de Brionne.

VOL. IL P

210 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

she had retired on Madame de Brionne emigratin'g . . . Madame
de Brionne ! ! . . . who had had for so many years, as- great an
affection for me as though I had been her child, and who
believed I had done her wrong ... oh ! politics must wait. On
arriving at Presbourg, I hurried to throw myself at her feet. She
allowed me to stay there long enough to feel her tears falling
on my face.

" It is you at last," she said, " I always knew I should see
you again. I may have been dissatisfied with you, but I have
never for a moment ceased to love you. My heart has followed
you everywhere. . . ."

I could not say a word, I wept. She sought to recompose
me by asking all sorts of questions.

" You have a fine position ">. " she said.

" Oh yes, it is well enough,'' I replied. But my tears choked
me. The feeling I experienced was so profound, that I was
obliged to leave her for a few minutes ; feeling faint, I went to
breathe the air on the banks of the Danube. Having recovered
myself a little, I returned to Madame de Brionne. She recom-
menced her questioning ; this time I was better able to answer
her. She just mentioned the king, and spoke at some length
of Monsieur. She called me the King of Saxony, knowing that
I had defended his cause, and being interested in it herself. A
few days after this interview, death deprived me of the friend I
had been so happy to find again.

In the evening, I went to the palace, and acquitted myself
of the commission with which I had been entrusted. The King
of Saxony, whose ardent desire was to be able to confide in me,
had asked me to see him alone. In this interview in which he
spoke of his gratitude to me without the slightest embarrassment,
I showed him the necessity of making some sacrifice, and en-
deavoured to convince him that, at the point at which things
then were, it was the only means of guaranteeing the inde-
pendence of his country. The king detained me nearly two
hours. He as yet engaged himself to nothing, simply saying
that he was about to retire within with his family. A few
hours after, Prince de Metternich, the Duke of Wellington, and

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 211

myself received an invitation to present ourselves at the palace.
Prince de Metternich, whom we had chosen to be our spokes-
^jBK^ explained to the king with considerable adroitness, the wishes
PPKe peters. The king, in noble and touching language, told us
of his afifection for his people, though letting us see in advance that
he w^ould place no obstacle in the way of whatever, be it only in
accordance with the honour of his crown, might contribute to
the final settlement of Europe ; he however reserved to himself
the right to send a minister to the congress, invested with full
powers to treat of his interests.

We set out for Vienna, without being the bearers of the
king's adhesion, but persuaded nevertheless, that he was decided,
and that it was through Herr von Einsiedel, his plenipotentiary,
that his consent would reach the congress.

After several conferences to which Herr von Einsiedel had
been admitted, the points at issue between Saxony and Prussia
were settled, not to their mutual satisfaction but by common
accord.^ Thus the principle of legitimacy was not made to
suffer in that important circumstance.

From these arrangements it resulted that Russia, who had
laid claim to the possession of the entire duchy of Warsaw, was
obliged to desist, Prussia recovered a considerable portion of it,
and Austria, who had not ceased to possess a portion of
Galicia, took up again a few of the districts that she had ceded
in 1809.

This arrangement, which, at first glance may seem to have
had no importance except for those two powers, was of general
interest Poland almost entirely in the possession of Russia,
would have probably been a cause of continual anxiety to
Europe. It was of importance for the security of the latter,
that two powers rather than one if exposed to see themselves
deprived of all they possessed, should be, by a sentiment of
common danger, disposed to combine on every occasion
against the ambitious enterprises of Prussia. Mutual in-
terest became for them the strongest link, and it is for that

' Prussia acquired all the upper and lower Lusatia, nearly the whole of Misnia
and Thuringia, with the towns of Torgau and Wittemberg (treaty of May 18, 1815).

P 2

212 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

reason that France sustained the pretensions of Prussia and
Austria.

The Russian minister sought to foil me with my own argu-
ments. He pretended that if the principle of legitimacy required
the preservation of the realm of Saxony, it ought to exact also
the re-establishment of Poland. He added that the Czar
Alexander wished to have the totality of the duchy of Warsaw
to erect it into a kingdom, and that I could not thus, without
being inconsistent, refuse to subscribe to its being placed in his
possession. I replied with vivacity that one could really and
honestly regard as a question of principle, the re-establishment
in a national body and under an independent government or a
numerous people, formerly powerful, occupying a vast and con-
tinuous tract of territory, and who, though it had not allowed the
bonds of its unity to be broken, had nevertheless remained
homogeneous by a community of manners, language, and hopes ;
that if that were what was desired, France would be the first not
only to give her adhesion to the re-establishment of Poland, but
even to wish for it sincerely, on the condition that Poland should
be re-established such as it were formerly, such as Europe wished
that it should be. But, I added, there is nothing in common
between the principle of the legitimacy and the more or less
great extent that would be given to the state, Russia pretends '
to form with a small portion of Poland, and without even
evincing the intention of uniting, later, with it the beautiful
provinces which, since the last divisioq, have been annexed to
that vast empire. The ministers of Russia, after several con-
ferences understood that they would not succeed to conceal,
under the veil of the principle of legitimacy, the interesting views
that they had been instructed to enforce, and they confined them-
selves to negotiating, in order to obtain a more or less great
portion of the territory which, for some years had composed
the grand duchy of Warsaw.

By rendering homage to the principle of legitimacy in the
decision taken with regard to the kingdom of Saxony, the fate
of Naples had been implicitly pronounced upon. The principle
once adopted, no one could refuse to admit the consequences

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 213

of it. Therefore France, after having rejected the pretensions
founded upon the right of conquest, exacted the assurance that
Ferdinand IV. should be recognized King of Naples. It was
necessary to overcome the real difficulty of several cabinets who
were bound to Murat, and especially of Austria, who had made
a treaty with him. I was far from refusing to adopts, all, that
leading to the same end, could be reconciled with the dignity
of the powers. Murat came to my aid. He was in a state of
continual agitation ; he wrote letters upon letters, making
declarations, ordering his troops to make marches and counter-
marches, and furnishing me with a thousand opportunities for
exposing his bad faith. An unfortunate move of his army in
Lombardy, was regarded as an aggression, and that aggression
became the signal of his ruin.^ The Austrians marched against
him, beat him, followed him up, and a few days after, abandoned
by his army, he left the kingdom of Naples as a fugitive, and
that country soon returned to its allegiance to its legitimate
king. The restitution of the realm of Naples to Ferdinand IV.
consecrated anew, by a striking instance the principle of
legitimacy, and besides, it was useful to France, because it
gave her for ally in Italy, the most powerful state of that
country.^

' They were agreed at Vienna to overthrow Murat, but no pretext could be found
when he himself furnished it. He had as agent at Vienna, the Duke de Campo-Chiaro,
who had been refused admission to the congress. Though he had thus no official
position, Murat sent him, towards the end of February, 1815, a note, with orders to
communicate it to the powers ; in it, the king demanded explanations from the
sovereigns, concerning their intentions towards him, declaring that, if necessary, he
was ready to fight, and warning them that he would then be forced to pass on the
territory of several of the Italian states newly created. Austria seized that opportunity,
and under the pretext of protecting the Austrian princes in Italy, had one hundred
and fifty thousand men marched aganst Murat.

2 Were it not my duty to my family to mention here the honourable decree
which King Ferdinand IV. rendered in my favour when bestowing on me the duke-
dom of Dino, gratitude alone would induce me to do so. — (Prince Talleyrand.)

The King and Queen of the Two Sicilies had entrusted to Prince de Talleyrand
the defence of their interests at the Congress. The following are the letters they
wrote to him on the subject. . We shall here transcribe them from the originals, as
they are to be found among the papers of the Prince.

Letter from the King of the Two Sicilies,
"MONSTEUR LE PeINCE,

" My unsteady hand compels me to borrow the aid of another, whom I
know however to be faithful, in order to express my feelings to you ; for having been

214 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

The arrangements made with regard to several other parts of
Italy, had in view the establishment in that peninsula of
strong counter-poise, capable of checking Austrian power, if
its ambitious views carried it some day in that direction. Thus
the realm of Sardinia acquired all the state of Genoa. The
branch of the house of Savoy, then reigning at Turin, being
ready to die out, and Austria being enabled by her family

informed by my proved and devoted minister, Commandatore Ruffo, of the favourable
disposition you bear to my interests, and of the trouble you are taking to get my
kingdom of Naples restored to me. I felt I could no longer defer expressing to you
my recognition of your services, nor delay putting my just cause at once into the
hands of a minister, whose sublime genius in conducting negotiations can alone
assure me a fortunate issue ; and this it would be my greatest pleasure to owe to a
Perigord. I charge Commandatore Ruffo to express to you, in my name, every
acknowledgment that confidence in the interest you take in my cause, to be now
furthered by you at the Congress, cannot fail to inspire ; and it is in such a spirit
that I ask you to receive the anticipated expression of the recognition of

" Yours very affectionately,

"Ferdinand."
Palermo, Oct. i, 1814.

Letter of the Queen of the Two Sicilies.

" Prince de Ben^vent,

" The rights you have just acquired to the recognition of all the individuals
of the House of Bourbon, compel me to make use of my old and constant friend, the
Baroness of Tailerand, your relation, to assure you of the high consideration and
esteem that the signal services you have just rendered, in these latter most fortunate
events, to a family to which I belong by all possible ties, have inspired me. I join
my acknowledgments to those of the King my husband, and of all my family, and am
proud to be the exponent of them. The astonishing and rapid events that have just
restored to the oldest branch of the Bourbons and to Spain the rank and thrones of their
ancestors, have not yet influenced in any way that of the two Sicilies, in spite of the
fact that its misfortunes and, above all, its constancy, have won for it sacred rights to
the esteem and equity of its allies : but the influence that France is with justice about
to re-assume in Europe, is a sure guarantee, that owing to her interest in us, she will
support our lawful rights with the noble-mindedness and energy that characterize the
nation, the sovereign, and the minister who has had the greatness and the talent to
distinguish clearly, and to choose wisely. It is in these that I put ray confidence to-
day, as also the hope of the future good-fortune and glory of my family ; the mis-
fortunes of the whole family of the Bourbons, and their cruel experience, teaches us
that our different branches must be united for ever, to attain their own prosperity and
glory, as well as that of the peoples they are called upon to govern, and that it is to
the head of the whole family, to which they must all attach themselves. Such are
the sentime-ts of the King, my husband ; such are the sentiments of my whole family :
and they will doubtless form the basis for the future conduct of our government in its
political relations. Accept, again, prince, the tribute of admiration and acknowledg-
ment, that I, with a genuine satisfaction offer to your talents and services, both in
my own name, and that of all my family.

"Yours affectionately,

"Charlotte."
Vieima, June TJ, 1814.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 215

alliances to raise pretensions to that fine inheritance, this effect
was prevented by the recognition of the rights of the house
of Carignan, to which was assured the inheritance of that
crown.

Switzerland, the central point of Europe, on which rest
three great countries, France, Germany and Italy, was solemnly
declared neutral for ever. By this decision, the means of defence
for each one of these countries were increased, and the means
of aggression diminished. That provision is especially favour-
able to France, who, surrounded by fortresses on all other
points of her frontiers, is deprived of any on those bordering
on Switzerland. The neutrality of that country thus gives her,
on the only point where she is weak and disarmed, an inex-
pugnable position.

To preserve the Helvetic people from internal dissensions,
which, by disturbing their tranquillity, might have com-
promised the maintenance of their neutrality, we applied
ourselves to conciliate the respective pretensions of the cantons,
and to arrange the differences which had existed for a long time
between them. The union threatened by the conflict of old
interests and of the interests resulting from the new organiz-
ation made under the mediation of Napoleon, was strengthened
by an act combining all the provisions, which appeared most
likely to lead to their agreement.

The erection of the new realm of the Netherlands, agreed
upon before the peace, was evidently a hostile measure against
France ; and that project had been conceived with the view of
creating about her a state which should be her enemy, and
which the need of protection made the natural ally of England
and of Prussia. The result of that combination however,
appeared to me less dangerous for France than it was believed,
for the new kingdom would have enough to do for some time,
in consolidating itself.^ In fact, formed from two countries
opposed in interests and sentiments, it is doomed to remain
weak and without stability for many years. That kind of pro-

^ It had no time to do so. The Revolution of 1830-1832 divided Belgium
from Holland.

2i6 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

tective intimacy that England believes she will succeed in
establishing between herself and the new state, seems to me
destined to be for a long time to come a political dream.
A kingdom composed of a commercial and of a manu-
facturing country, must undoubtedly become a rival to
England, or be laiined by her, and consequently be dis-
contented.

The organization of the German confederation was to be
one of the most important elements of the equilibrium of
Europe. I cannot say whether the congress would have
succeeded in founding that organization on bases which would
have made it serve effectually as support to that equilibrium.
The fatal events of 1815, which forced the congress to hurry
its deliberations, were the cause that the final act had to be
drafted in a somewhat embryonic state, that, until the present, it
has not been able to take shape, and that it is still being-
worked upon, in order to be developed.

The part played by France in that memorable circumstance
I will leave to be appreciated. Notwithstanding the disadvantages
of the position in which she found herself at the opening of
the congress, she succeeded in taking in the deliberations such a
leading part, that the most important questions were decided
according to her views and after the principles that she had
established and sustained, all opposed though they were to the
intentions of the powers, to whom the fate of arms had given
the power to dictate without hindrance the law to Europe.
And although, in the midst of the discussions of the congress, the
spirit of revolt and usurpation came again to subjugate France,
the king, having returned to Ghent, exercised the same in-
fluence at Vienna, as from the palace of the Tuileries. At my
request, and I should say it, to the honour of the sovereigns,
without insistance, Europe i.ssued a crushing declaration
against the usurper} I speak of him thus, for after his

^ On the 25th of March, 1815, at the news of the arrival of Napoleon at Paris,
England, Austria, Russia and Prussia renewed their alliance. All the other states
of Europe adhered to that treaty. At the same time, the powers issued the follow-
ing declaration: — "In breaking thus the convention that sent him to Elba,

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 217I

return from Elba, Napoleon was but an usurper. Until
then he had been a conqueror, his brothers alone had been
usurpers.

I again secured at that time the reward of my fidelity to,
upright principles. In the king's name I had invoked them for
the preservation of others' rights, and they had become the
guarantee of his own.

All the powers, seeing themselves again threatened by the
revival of revolution in France, armed with all speed. The
negotiations at Vienna were hastily concluded in order to apply
all one's energies to cares then becoming more pressing ; and
the final act of the congress although only roughly sketched in
some of its parts, was signed by the plenipotentiaries who
separated afterwards.

Affairs being thus terminated, the king, and consequently
France, having been received in that alliance against Na-
poleon and his adherents, I left Vienna, where nothing
longer detained me, and I started on my way to Ghent,
far from imagining that, on arriving at Brussels, I should
learn the result of the battle of Waterloo. His Highness
the Prince of Conde was kind enough to furnish me all
the details of it. He spoke, with a grace that I shall never
forget, of the success France had had at the Congress of
Vienna.

After this succinct account of the deliberations of the
Vienna Congress, the following correspondence will perhaps be
read with more interest

All this correspondence, that is to say the minutes of the
letters written by King Louis XVHI. in his own hand, and the
originals of my letters, is deposited in the archives of the
Department of Foreign Affairs. The copies which I give here

Buonaparte destroys the only legal title to which his existence had been attached.
In reappearing in France with schemes of disturbance and destruction, he has
deprived himself of the protection of the law, and manifested to the face of all
that there can be neither peace nor truce with him. . . . The powers declare in
consequence that Napoleon Buonaparte has placed himself outside all relations
civil and social, and that, as enemy and disturber of the peace, he has delivered
himself up to public vengeance. "

2i8 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

are taken from the original letters of the king, and from my own
minutes.^

No I. Prince Talleyrand to the King Louis XVIII.''

Vienna, September 2S, 1814.
Sire,

I left Paris on the i6th. I arrived here the morning of

^ The following correspondence has already been published a few years ago by
M. Pallain {Correspondence inediie de Louis XVIII. et de M. de Talleyrand), with
the exception however of the letters of the King's Ambassadors to the Minister
of Foreign Affairs which are included here. We have noticed between the official
text found liy M. Pallain in the archives of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the
text which M. de Talleyrand wished to preserve in his memoirs certain differences,
often insignificant, at times to the contrary, curious enough, which at any rate
appeared to us interesting to reproduce. The additions and varieties will be fotmd
in notes and italics. Besides, there are in our text several passages that are not re-
produced in the text of the archives, we have equally underlined and indicated them.

^ We give here the whole text of this first letter, such as it is found in the wdrk of
M. Pallain. The differences are so numerous, that it would have been difficult to
otherwise point them out.

Vienna, September 25, 1814.

Sire,

I left Paris on the 16th. I arrived here on the ■i.yd, in the evening. I stopped
only at Strasbtirg and at Munich.

The Princess of Wales had just left Strasbourg. She had accepted an invitation
to a ball at the residence of Mme. Franck, widow of the banker of that name. She
danced all night. At the inn where I put up, she gave a supper to Talma. Her
manners ivhile at Strasburg explains perfectly why the P?~ince Regent prefers to know
her in Italy instead of in England, At Munich the king spoke to me of his attach-
ment for your Majesty and of the fears that Prussian ambition gave him ; he told me,
in a 7nost gracious manner : ** I have served France twenty and one years, that cannot
be forgotten. " Two hours^ conversation that I was able to have with M. de Montgelas
proved fully to me that it is only necessary to follow the principles adopted by your
Majesty, as the basis of the political system of France, to secure the good-will of and
to conciliate the confidence of powers of an inferior order.

At Vieiina the language of reason and moderation is not yet spoken by the
plenipotentiaries.

One of the Russian ministers said to me yesterday, "They wished to make us an
Asiatic power, Poland 'will viakc Europeans of us."

As for Prussia, she asks nothing better than to exchange her old Polish provinces
for those which she covets in Germany, and on the banks of the Rhine. Those two
powers should be regarded as intimately linked on that point.

The Russian ministers insist, without having admitted up to the present the least
discussion, on a territorial extension that would carry that power to the banks of the
Vistula, by annexing even old Prussia to their empire.

/ hope that the Czar, who in different circumstances permitted me to expose to liim
frankly, what I judged most useful to his interests and to his glory, will enable me to
combat before him the policy of his ministers. The philanthropist La Harpe revolts at
the idea of the ancient division of Poland, and pleads her subjection to Russia ; he has
been at Vienna for the last ten or twelve days.

They still dispute the right of the King of Saxony to have a minister at the

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 219

the 24th. The Princess of Wales 1 had just left Strasbourg
-when I arrived there. * She had accepted an invitation to a
ball at Mme. Franck's, widow of the banker of that name,
where she had danced all night. She had given a supper to
Talma the evening before her departure. All this explains to
me the motives that led the Prince Regent to prefer to have
her on the Continent rather than in England. She purposes
setting off for Italy. At Munich, the king ^ spoke to me of his
attachment for your Majesty. He said, " I have served France
for twenty years. That cannot be forgotten. If Monsieur, or
Monseigneur tlie Due de Berry, had come to Strasbourg when I
was at Baden, I shojtld have hastened to pay them my respects." *

I foresaw that it would only be necessary to follow the
principles laid down by your Majesty as the basis of the policy

congress. M. de SchuUnburg, whom I have known for a long time, told me yesterday
that the king had declared that he would sign no act of cession, of abdicaiion, nor
exchange, that could destroy the existence of Saxony, or modify the rights of his house.
That honourable resistance might make some impression upon those who still share
the idea of the union of that kingdom to Prussia.

Bavaria has offered to the King of Saxony to support his pretensions if necessary,
by a large body of troops, Herr von Wrede says that he has orders to give as muny as
forty thousand men.

TJie question of Naples is not resolved upon. Austria would like to place Naples
and Saxony on the same footing, and Russia 'would make them serve as compensation.

The Queen of Naples is not much regretted. Her death appears to have put
M. de Mettemich more at his ease.

Nothing is determined in regard to the conduct and the p-ogress of affairs at the
congress. The Knglish even, whom I believed mo7'e methodical than others, have made
no preparatory work on that object,

T am inclined to believe t/iat the idea of having tivo commissions will prevail: the
one composed of the six great powers^ and dealing "with the general affairs of Europe ;
the other to prepare the affairs of Germany, and being likewise cotnposed of the six first
German paivers. I would have desired that there should have been seven. The idea
of a commission for Italy displeases Austria prodigiously.

The line of conduct which yovir Majesty has traced for his ministers is so noble,
tliat it must of necessity, if all reason has not disappeared from the earth, end by giving
them some influence.

I am, with the most profound respect. Sire,
Your Majesty's most humble, obedient servant and subject.

Prince de Talleyrand.

P. S. The Czar of Russia and the King of Prussia have just arrived. Their
entrance was most beautiful. They were on horseback ; the Emperor of Austria in the
iriiddle. Some disorder, occasioned by the horses, was the cause that for a considerable
portion of the ride the King of Prussia was at the right of the Emperor Francis. He
did not resume his place until a little before the arrival at the palace.

' This is the princess who caused so much scandal by her conduct, and by her
divorce case with King George IV. of England.

' Omitted in the text of the archives.

' Maximilian, first King of Bavaria. He was colonel in the service of France
before the Revolution of 1789. He was known at that time under the name of
Max de 1 Vux Fonts.

* Omitted in the text of the archives.

220 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

of France, in order to assure to ourselves the return to, and
to conciliate the confidence, of the powers of an inferior rank.

Since my arrival here, I have been able to receive but a few
persons. M. de Dalberg, who had preceded me by a day, had for
his part picked up a few notions?-

I see, Sire, that the language of reason, and moderation,
will not be employed by all the plenipotentiaries. One of the
ministers of Russia said a few days ago : " They wanted to
make an Asiatic power of us. Poland will keep us European."

Prussia, on her side, asks nothing better than to exchange
her ancient Polish provinces for those she covets in Germany and
on the banks of the Rhine. These two powers should be con-
sidered as intimately united on that point.

The Russian ministers insist, without up to the present
having allowed any discussion, on a territorial extension which
shall carry that power to the banks of the Vistula, by uniting
even the old Prussia to its empire. They announce, however,
that this question still has to be treated by their sovereign, zvho,
alo?ie, ca7i modify their instructions.

I hope, that upon the arrival of the Czar of Russia, who, in
different circumstances, accorded me the right to expose to him
frankly what I judged most useful to his real interest and glory,
I shall be able to inform him, how much it would be to the
advantage of his general philanthropic policy, if he would allow
moderation to temper might. Perhaps I may even find in that
connection, the only point of contact with M. de la Harpe,^ who
is already here. The Emperor of Russia, and the King of
Prussia, are expected to-day.

They still contest the right of the King of Saxony to send a
a minister to the Congress. He has sent Count von Schulen-
burg,* a clever agent whom I know well. We can take advantage
of this. The king has declared that he will sign no act of cession,
abdication, or exchange that can destroy the existence of
Saxony. This honourable resistance would cause those who still
cling to the idea of the union of this kingdom to Prussia to come
to their senses.

' Omitted in the text of the arcliives.

^ M. de La Harpe, a Swiss statesman, former tutor to the Czar Alexander, who
has already been seen playing an important part in the affairs of his country at the
time of the Directory.

' FredericU- Albert, Count von Schulenburg, bom in 1772. He was appointed
minister of Saxony at Vienna in 1798, then at Ratisbonne. Attended the congress
of Rastadt (1799), and was, a short time after, sent to Copenhagen, then to St. Peters-
burg (1S04). He returned to Vienna in 1810, and attended at the congress of i8i4as
Saxony's plenipotentiary. He retired in 1830, and consecrated himself until his
death (1853), exclusively to letters.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 221

Bavaria has offered to support the King of Saxony by fifty
thousand men if necessary. They do not seem to agree as
to the non-admission of a plenipotentiary of Naples, but I
regard this question as not being definitively decided.

Austria wants Naples and Saxony to be treated on a par,
and Russia to deprive them from the eventual compensation.
The Queen of Naples is mourned by no one ; and her death
seems even to have put Prince Metternich more at his ease.

Nothing, moreover, is yet determined with regard to the
progress and conduct of the affairs of the congress, and even in
the arguments to the English ministers, I thought I could detect
that they had not yet matured their plans in this respect.

Two commissions have been proposed, of which, the one is to
be composed of the great powers, and the other of the inferior ones.
They intend to have the affairs of Germany treated by a special
commission.

The part which your Majesty prescribes for his ambassadors
is so noble, and so befitting his own dignity, that they will be
enabled to aid all that can bring order to Europe, and re-
establish a real and durable equilibrium.

I beg Your Majesty to believe that we shall exert ourselves to
•meet your confidence, and to follozv the line traced in the instruc-
tions given by Your Majesty to your ambassadors at the congress}

I am

Prince de Talleyrand."

No. I A. The King's Ambassadors at the Congress to
the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.^

Vienna, September 27, 18 14.

Monsieur le Comte,

The despatches of the king's ambassadors at the congress,
have had, as yet, but little with which to acquaint the depart-
ment. The king's ministers keep to the line of conduct set
forth in the instructions. In all their conversations they revert
to the article of the treaty of May 30, which gives to the
congress the honourable mission of establishing a real and durable
equilibrium. That disinterested stand conducts them to the
principle of public law which is recognized by all Europe, and

1 Omitted in the text of the archives. . ^ ^ , • , ,^ j

' Prince Talleyrand alone conducted the correspondence with the king. — \M. de

» The Comte de Jauconrt held the portfolio of Foreign Affairs at Paris during the
absence of Prince de Talleyrand.— {;»/: de Bacourt.)

222 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

from which springs, almost of necessity, the re-establishment of
King Ferdinand IV. on the throne of Naples, as well as the suc-
cession of the Carignan branch to the the house of Savoy.

The non-abdication, and non-cession, of the King of Saxony,
gives to the king's ministers the right to defend his cause. You
see. Monsieur le Comte, that we keep to generalities. Never-
theless, we should tell you, that their application appears to be
foreseen by the ministers, whom, before the peace, we called
our allies, and that that puts the king's ministers in a position,
which is very suitable to the grand part he is called upon to
play in these circumstances.

Our information authorizes us to say that misfortune and
ambition do not yet allow the Prussian ministers to use such
language as so pacific an assembly as that sitting in congress
at Vienna, would seem to warrant.
We have the honour

The Prince de Talleyrand.

The Due de Dalberg.

The Marquis de la Tour du Pin Gouvernet.

The Comte Alexis de Noailles.

No. 2. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King
Louis XVIII.

Vienna, September 29, 1814.

Sire,

We have, at last, almost finished the round of our visits to
the numerous members of the imperial family. It has been very
soothing to me, to meet everywhere with testimonies of the
high regard felt for the person of Your Majesty, of the interest
shown in you, and of the wishes that are formed for him — all
more or less happily expressed, but always with a sincerity that
cannot be suspected of being feigned. The empress, who, since
our arrival, has been obliged to occupy herself exclusively with
the empress of Russia, had appointed us an hour for to-day.
She was indisposed, but though she had had her mother, the
archduchess, receive several persons for her, she expressed a wish
to receive herself the embassy of Your Majesty. She questioned
me, with an interest that was not simply that of politeness, as
to Your Majesty's health. " I remember," she said, " having seen
the king at Milan, when I was very young. He was full of kind-
ness towards me. I have never forgotten it, under any circum-
stances."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 223

She spoke in like terms of the Duchesse d'Angouleme, of her
virtues, of the love borne her at Vienna, and of the memories that
she left there. She also deigned to address some obliging
remarks to the minister of Your Majesty. Twice in the conver-
sation she mentioned the name of the Archduchess Marie
Louise, the second time with a sort of affectation. She calls
ber ma fille Louise?- Notwithstanding the cough which con-
tinually* interrupted her, and notwithstanding her being so
thin, this princess has the gift of pleasing, and possesses graces
that I could almost term really French, if, to too fastidious eyes,
those graces did not seem somewhat affected.

Prince Metternich is exceedingly polite to me. Count von
Stadion shows me more confidence. It is true that the latter,
dissatisfied with what the other does, retrenched himself in
financial matters, the management of which he has, and which I
strongly doubt he understands, and has left the direction
of the cabinet, which perhaps renders him more communi-
cative.

I still have every reason to be satisfied with the frankness of
Lord Castlereagh. He had a few days ago, with the Emperor
Alexander, a conversation which lasted an hour and a half, and
with which he came at once to inform me. He pretends that in
that conversation the Czar Alexander displayed all the resources
of a most subtle mind ; but that he, Lord Castlereagh, spoke
in terms most positive and even sufficiently harsh to be impolite,
had he not veiled them by means of zealous protestations for the
glory of the Czar. Notwithstanding all that, I fear that Lord
Castlereagh has not that spirit of decision that it would be so
necessary for him to possess, and that the spectre of parliament
that ever haunts him renders him timid. I shall do my very
best to inspire him with firmness.

Count Nesselrode told me that the Emperor Alexander
desires to see me, and requested me to write to him to solicit an
audience.^ I did so already, several days ago, and have not
yet received his reply.* Can it be that our principles, of which
we make no mystery, are known to the Czar Alexander, and
make him feel somewhat uneasy before me .■' If, as I am inclined
to believe, after all that has been related to me, he does me the

1 My daughter Louise (Napoleon's -ni{e).--{Translalor).

- Text : continutllement (continually). Var. souvent (often).

' Text : une audietice (an audience). Var. une audience particulih-e (a private

audience). ,,.,.. , . , „ , ■,

4 Text : "Jc Tai fait, il y a dija plusieursjours et n ai pas encore sa reponse. ' I
did so already several days ago and have not yet received his reply." Var. "/e tai
fait ilya plusieursjours et n'ai pas encore de riponse." " I did so several days ago
and have not yet received a reply."

224 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

honour of talking to me about the affairs of Poland and Saxony,
I shall be conciliating but positive, speaking only of principles,
and never swerving from them.

I imagine that Russia and Prussia make so much stir and
speak with so much haughtiness, only in order to learn the in-
tentions of the other powers. If they should find themselves
alone in their opinion, they will think twice before bringing
matters to a crisis. That Polish enthusiasm with which the
Czar Alexander was filled at Paris has grown cold at St. Peters-
burg. It has revived at Pulawi ; ^ it may die out again, though
we have here M. de la Harpe, and the Czartoryskis are ex-
pected ; ^ I can scarcely believe that a simple but unanimous
declaration of the great powers will not suffice to stay it.

Unhappily, he who is at the head of affairs in Austria, and
who claims to regulate those of Europe regards as the most
obvious mark of the superiority of genius a carelessness which,
in certain respects, he carries to the point of ridicule, and in
others, to a point which, in a minister of a great state, and in
circumstances such as these, becomes really calamitous.

In this state of affairs, when so many passions are ram-
pant, and when so many people are bestirring themselves in
all directions, rashness and carelessness are two rocks which seem
to me to be equally avoided. I, therefore, endeavour not to depart
from that calm dignity, which alone can suit the ministers of
Your Majesty, who, thanks to the wise instructions given them,
have only principles to defend, and no combination of personal
interests to uphold.

Whatever may be the issue of the congress, two opinions
must be impressed and enforced, that relative to the justice of
Your Majesty, and that relative to the strength of his govern-
ment ; for these are the best, or rather the only guarantees of
consideration abroad and of stability at home. Those two
opinions having been once impressed, as I hope they may be, we
shall, in any case, come out of the congress with honour,
whether its results be or not be in conformity with our wishes
and the good of Europe.

' Mansion of the Princes Czartoryski in Poland. That superb residence has been
celebrated by the poet Delille in his poem entitled Les Jardins.

^ The Czartoryskis were one of the most powerful and wealthy families of Poland
Their family was then represented by Prince Adam-Casimir (1731-1823), starost-
general of Podolia and feldzeugmeistcr in the Austrian army, as well as by his two
sons : Adam-George, bom in 1770, former ambassador of Russia and, later, senator of
the kingdom of Poland : and Constantine-Adam, bom in 1773, who was at the time
a colonel of infantry in the Russian anny.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 225

No. 2A. — The Ambassadors of the King at the Congress
TO THE Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, September 29, 1814.

Monsieur le Comte,

During the last few days we have been introduced to the
imperial family of Austria. It seemed to us that the emperor
and the archdukes tried to be very obliging. The empress
especially received us with much good grace. They expressed
to us their attachment to the king, and asked many questions
regarding the health of Madame la Duchesse d'Angouleme.
The fetes have commenced.

The affairs of the congress have made but little progress
since the last letter that we had the honour of writing you. We
continue to follow closely the instructions that have been
given us.

By proclaiming the principles they contain, France and the
king will influence the affairs of Europe in a manner as noble as
it is suitable.

It appears that, hitherto, all that ought to have been agreed
upon, with respect to the progress of affairs, has not been decided.

The king's ministers have not yet thought it advisable to
interfere, and we are waiting. Monsieur le Comte, till some
agreement be come to on those different subjects, before inform-
ing you of the results.

We have been informed in the most positive manner that
Russia will abandon none of her pretensions on Poland. She
declares that the duchy of Warsaw is occupied by her armies,
and that they will have to be driven out. Such are the terms
she employs.

Prussia has ceded her what she calls her rights on that
country, and seeks recompense in the kingdom of Saxony.
This state of things leaves great uncertainty as to the issue of
the congress.

Information received as to the sentiments of Austria do
not leave much hope that that power will employ her numerous
armies to back up those principles without which nothing can be
stable.

The king's ministers think they have reason to believe that
the firm and energetic language that they have adhered to in
divers circumstances has produced some effect ; that it has even
led to hesitations in plans already almost decided.

Prince Talleyrand has expressed a wish to see the Emperor
of Russia. His letter, sent three days ago, has remained
VOL. II. Q

226 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

unanswered. It is only after that interview that one can judge
of the degree of moderation that that sovereign will bring to
bear on the general affairs of Europe. His ministers do not
appear to have complete instructions. They avoid us because
they are afraid of entering into a discussion with us.

The Austrian ministers show signs of suspicion.

The Prussians serve the Russians. It does not appear that
the English ministers take a very decided tone.

The agents of the minor courts seek to make overtures to
France, and we encourage them to do so.

We can only send you those few observations ; but they will
give you some idea of the state of things.

No. IB. — King Louis XVIII. to the Prince de
Talleyrand.

Paris, October 3, 1814.'

My Cousin,

I received your despatch of September 25, and for the
sake of your eyes and of my hand, I have this letter written
by some one who is far from being ignorant of my affairs.^

The Kings of Naples and Saxony are equally near relations
to myself. The claims of each are equally just ; but not so
my interest in them. The fact of the kingdom of Naples
being in the hands of a descendant of Louis XIV., increases the
power of France. Remaining in those of a member of the
Corsican's family, flagitio addit damnum. I am scarcely less
indignant at the idea that this kingdom and Saxony could
serve as compensations. I need not outline here my reflec-
tions on such a neglect of all public morality ; but what I must
hasten to tell you is, that if I cannot prevent this iniquity, I
will, at least, not sanction it, but, on the contrary, reserve to
myself and my successors, the liberty of redressing it, should
an opportunity present itself.

In saying this, I am, of course, supposing an extreme case,
for I am far from despairing of the success of the cause, if
England holds firmly to the principles Lord Castlereagh has
manifested here, and if Austria persists in the same resolution
as Bavaria.

That which Herr von Schulenburg told you of the determina-

^ This letter is dated October 13, in the text of the archives.

' The letters of Louis XVIII. to Prince Talleyrand were copied by the Comte,
afterwards Due de Blacas d'AuIps, but signed by the king. We have already said
that the king's minutes are now in the record office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
though no one knows how they came there. — {M. de Bacourt).

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 227

tion of the King of Saxony, is perfectly true ; that unhappy
prince has himself informed me of it.

You can easily judge with what impatience I await news
from the congress, which must already have begun work.
Thereupon, I pray God, my cousin, that He preserve you in His
safe and holy keeping.

Louis.

No. 3A. — The King's Ambassadors at the Congress to
THE Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Vienna, October 4, 1814,

Monsieur le Comte,

Since our last letter, we have made one more step. It
has not yet, however, brought us within sight of the work of
the congress. We will here briefly lay before you the various
events that have taken place.

Prince Metternich, in a note, dated the 29th of September,
and addressed to Prince Talleyrand, has invited him to a private
conference. [Subjoined to No. i, is a copy of that note.i]

The word assister, and the plenipotentiaries mentioned in the
note, led to the supposition, that the fact of their presence
there was to be simply an act of courtesy of the allies to-
wards France. Prince Talleyrand replied to it in the note
subjoined to No. 2. You will observe, Monsieur le Comte,
that by putting Spain before Prussia, the intention of Prince
Metternich was frustrated.

Later on, it eked out, that Prince Metternich had addressed
Count de Labrador an invitation couched in the following
terms : " Prince Metternich and his colleagues, the ministers
of Russia, England, and Prussia, invite . . . ."

Count Labrador, who is on terms of intimate relations with
the French embassy, and who seems to approve of the regu-
larity of its conduct and principles, replied as Prince Talleyrand
suggested to him.

The conference was held at the residence of Prince Metter-
nich himself. The latter had chosen Herr von Gentz, who is well
known for his English and Prussian sympathies, to draw up the
reports of the sitting.

A protocol and the draft of a declaration were read.

The protocol began by naming the allies at each paragraph,

* Mention is often made, either in Prince Talleyrand's letters or in those of the
ambassadors, of documents subjoined to the correspondence and forwarded to the
Department of Foreign Aifairs. Those documents were not found with the MS. of
the Prince's Memoirs. They could not, therefore, be reproduced here.

O 2

228 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

and the declaration was made in their name. It will be found
subjoined to No. 3.

Prince Talleyrand, having twice noticed the word allies',
and declared that it was an insult at a congress like that now
assembled, pointed out that the conclusions of this document
wounded the respect due to the other powers ; and that it was
not for them alone to take an initiative which no right justified ;
that it would be better to invite all the powers to unite in con-
gress, to have committees appointed, and thus proceed with that
moderation, without which nothing can be legitimately done ; he
finally declared that he could recognize no special arrani;ement
that had been made since the signing of the treaty of Paris.

That very evening, Prince Talleyrand addressed the result of
his observations to the five ministers who had met that morning.
His note is under No. 4.

This note seems to have retarded the summoning of a
second conference; and we have heard that the ministers
seemed rather perplexed about it. On the other hand, we
have been told that they seemed to think we wished to teach
them a lesson, and that they did not appear to do justice to
the cares which were taken to bring them to principles which
alone can re-establish Europe on a secure basis.

Prince Talleyrand, seeing that these ministers had held
prehminary conferences, that they had signed a protocol, and had
decided upon publishing that document as being in conformity
with the agreements they had made, to assume a kind of
initiative in the matters that still remained to be regulated,
decided on also drawing up and sending an official note. Noticing
that official measures had been resorted to on the one side, he
believed it necessary that similar measures be taken by the
other also.

You will see. Monsieur le Comte, in perusing these different
documents, that affairs in general are not yet treated with
that frankness, and that sentiment of justice and equity, which
could bring them to a speedy termination. You will also see
that the position of the embassy of France is a very delicate
one, inasmuch as its aim is to induce the other powers to be
moderate and reasonable, and that those powers are still bound
by previous engagements, and inspired by an intolerable
ambition. The opinion that we express in this respect, is
borne out by the conversation that Prince Talleyrand had
with his Majesty the Emperor of Russia, with which it is
necessary that you, Monsieur le Comte, should be acquainted.

The emperor affectedly inquired of the prince, what was the
present internal situation of France, the state of her armies.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 22$

of her finances, of public opinion ; and emphatically announced
his intention of preserving what he held, and laid down as
a principle, namely, that, in the arrangements about to be
made, he meant to suit himself. Prince Talleyrand observed
that he ought rather to seek what was right therein. The
emperor then uttered these words : " It is war then ! .... It is
war that you want .....'"' Prince Talleyrand, without reply-
ing, made a gesture which gave the Czar to understand, that
if war broke out, it would be the latter's own doing ; and
that he would bear the responsibility of it. Thereupon, the
Emperor of Russia explained that he had already made his
arrangements with the great powers, which Prince Talleyrand
took the liberty to question, seeing that France had not con-
curred in those arrangements, and that all the powers proclaimed
themselves free from any private engagements at variance with
what had been agreed upon at Paris.

Such is the situation of affairs. We hear on all hands
that the intermediate and smaller powers are abeady looking
towards France for support ; and we further flatter ourselves
that the Russian nation and army, having no interest in the
re-establishment of Poland, and not wishing for war merely
to further certain ambitious views, the Emperor of Russia will
return to his senses, and consent to Europe regaining rest
and tranquillity, by taking his stand on the principles that
reason dictates.

We have the honour. Monsieur le Comte, to forward to you
a copy of a letter from the minister of Portugal to Lord
Castlereagh, in which he protests against his exclusion from
the preliminary conferences, as Portuguese minister. Prince
Talleyrand thought fit to second his protest.

Be pleased to accept ....

No. 3. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King
Louis XVI 1 1.

Vienna Oct. 4, 1814.

Sire,

On September the 30th, between nine and ten o'clock a.m.
I received from Prince Metternich a note of some five lines,
bearing the date of the preceding evening, in which he proposed
to me in his name alone, to call on him at two o'clock, to attend
a preliminary conference, at which I should only find the
ministers of Russia, England, and Prussia assembled. He
added that he had made the same request to Count de Labrador,
Spanish minister.

230 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

The words attend and assembled were manifestly in-
tentionally employed. I replied that I should be very pleased to
meet the ministers of Russia, England, Spain, and Prussia at
his house.

The invitation addressed to Count de Labrador, was couched in
the same terms as the one I had received, with the difference
only that it was in the form of a note in the third person, and
was written in the name of Prince Metternich and his colleagues.

Count de Labrador having come to show it to me, and to
consult me on the reply to be made, I showed him what I had
written, and he wrote his in identical terms, naming France with,
but before, the other powers. We thus purposely. Count de
Labrador and myself, united what the others seemed anxious
to divide, and we divided what they seemed especially anxious
to unite.

I was at Prince Metternich's before two o'clock, and the
ministers of the four courts were already sitting in conference
round a long table : at one end Lord Castlereagh was ap-
parently presiding : at the other, a gentleman whom Prince
Metternich introduced to me as filling the office of secretary at
their conferences. It was Herr von Gentz. I was shown to a
vacant seat between Lord Castlereagh and Prince Metternich.
I asked why I alone of your Majesty's Embassy had been
invited, which brought about the following dialogue :

" It was wished to bring only the heads of cabinets together,
at the preliminary conferences."

" Count de Labrador is not one of them, and yet has been
invited."

" That is because the Secretary of State of Spain is not in
Vienna."

" But, besides Prince von Hardenberg, I see here Herr von
Humboldt, who is not a Secretary of State."

" This is an exception, necessitated by the infirmity with which
you are aware Prince Hardenberg is afflicted."^

" If it be only a question of infirmities, each of us could have
his own, and possesses an equal claim to have them considered
as a valid excuse."

There seemed then a disposition, to allow each Secretary of
State to bring with him one of the plenipotentiaries attached to
him, and for the present, I thought it useless to insist further.

The Portuguese ambassador. Count de Palmella,^ having
been informed by Lord Castlereagh, that preliminary conferences

^ Prince von Hardenberg was afflicted with little short of complete deafness.
^ M. de Souza-Holstein, Count, then Duke of Palmella (1786-1850), was later
Regent of Portugal (1830).

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 231

were to be held, which Count de Labrador and myself were to
attend, and of which no intimation had been sent to him, had
thought fit to protest against an exclusion, which he had con-
sidered both unjust and humiliating to the Crown of Portugal.
He had therefore written to Lord Castlereagh a letter, which the
latter produced at the conference. His arguments were strong,
and ably deduced. He asked that the eight powers that had
signed the treaty of May 30th, and not six of those powers
only, should form the preliminary commission, which was to
start the congress for whose summoning they had stipulated.
Count de Labrador and myself seconded that request. A certain
disposition was shown to acquiesce in it, but a definite decision
was deferred until the next sitting. Sweden has not yet any
plenipotentiary here, and has consequently not yet been in a
position to protest.

" The object of to-day's conference," said Lord Castlereagh to
me, " is to acquaint you with what the four courts have done,
since we have been here." Then addressing Prince Metternich,
he added, " You have the protocol."

Prince Metternich then handed me a document signed by
himself, Count Nesselrode, Lord Castlereagh, and Prince von
Hardenberg. In this document, the word allies occurred in each
paragraph.

I objected to that expression. I said it necessitated my
asking where we were, whether still at Chaumont, or at Laon 1 ^
if peace had not been made, whether war had been declared, and
if so, against whom .? They all replied that they did not attach
to the word allies, any meaning at variance with our present
relations, and that it had only been employed for the sake of
brevity ; so I pointed out, that however important it might be
to abridge work, that importance was not such as to warrant the
neglect of accuracy.

As to the contents of the protocol, it was but a tissue of
metaphysical deductions, intended to justify pretensions based
as well on treaties unknown to us. To discuss these arguments
and pretensions would have opened up an area of endless dispute.
I felt it necessary to meet all with one peremptory argument. I
read several paragraphs and said, " I do not understand." I read
them again, posing with the air of a man who seeks to grasp the
meaning of a thing, and I said, " I do not understand any
better." I added : " There are but two dates, between which there
is a gap, in my eyes, that of May 30th, when the formation of a

1 On March 25, 1814, the allied sovereigns, after the rupture of the negotiations
at Chatillon, had signed a declaration at Laon whereby they agreed anew to the
provisions of the treaty of Chaumont.

232 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

congress was stipulated for, and that of the ist of October, when
this congress was to meet. All that has been done in the mean-
time I ignore, and does not exist in my eyes."

To this, the plenipotentiaries replied that they cared little for
that document, and that they asked no better than to withdraw
it, upon which Count de Labrador remarked that they had
nevertheless signed it. They withdrew it. Prince Metternich put
it aside, and there was no longer any question of it.

After having foregone that document, they produced another.
It was a project of declaration which M. de Labrador and myself
were to sign with them, if we should adopt it. After a long
preamble, on the necessity of simplifying and abridging the work
of the congress, and after repeated assurances that there was no
intention of encroaching on the rights of any one, the project
stated, that the points to be settled by the congress, should be
divided into two series, for each of which a committee should be
appointed, to which application could be made by the states
concerned, and that when those two committees had completed
their work, the congress then assemble for the first time, and all
questions be submitted for its sanction.

This project was evidently intended to render the four
powers, who call themselves allied, absolute masters of all the
deliberations of the congress, seeing that on the supposition that
the six chief powers should constitute themselves judges of the
questions relative to the composition of the congress, to the
points that it should settle, to the order in which these should
be settled, and should, alone and without control, appoint the
committees to prepare all the work, France and Spain, even
supposing they always agreed on all questions, would still be
but two against four.

I declared that in order to form an opinion on a project of
that nature, a first reading would not be sufficient ; that it
required to be meditated upon ; that, above all, it was neces-
sary to ascertain whether it was compatible with the rights
that we were all bent on respecting ; that we had come to
consecrate and secure the rights of each of the powers, and
that it would be most unfortunate if we should begin by
violating them ; that the idea of arranging everything before
assembling the congress was quite new to me ; that they pro-
posed to finish with what, as I believed, it was necessary to
begin ; that, perhaps, the rights it was proposed to confer on the
six powers could only be given them by the congress ; that
there were measures which irresponsible ministers could easily
adopt, but that Lord Castlereagh and myself were very differ-
ently situated.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 23J,

Here Lord Castlereagh said that the remarks I had just
made had all occurred to him, and that he fully appreciated,
their force. " But," he added, " what other expedient can we find
to avoid involving ourselves in inextricable and dilatory pro-
ceedings ? "

I asked why the congress was not there and then assembled ?
What difficulties were in the way ? Each plenipotentiary
thereupon alleged what he regarded as an obstacle to the
adoption of such a measure. A conversation ensued, in the
course of which, it being a question of him who reigns at Naples,
Count de Labrador expressed himself without reserve.^ As for
myself, I simply remarked : " Of what King of Naples do you
speak? We do not know who he is." 2 And Herr von Humboldt
having observed that the powers had recognized him and
guaranteed to him his states, I firmly replied:^ "Those who
gave him such a guarantee, had no right, and therefore no
power, to do so." And, in order not to lay stress on that
language, I added : " But there is no question of this at present."
Then reverting to the congress, I said that the difficulties
which seemed to be apprehended would perhaps be less than
was believed, that it was necessary to seek some means of
obviating them, and that we should surely find it. Prince
von Hardenberg declared that he did not hold to one ex-
pedient more than to another, but that some was required in
order that the princes of Leyen and of Lichtenstein * might not
interfere in the general arrangements of Europe. Thereupon
we adjourned until the next day, after the other plenipoten-
tiaries had promised to send me, as well as Count de Labrador,
copies of the draft of the declaration, and of the letter of
Count de Palmella.

(The different documents referred to in the letter I have the
honour to write to your Majesty, are enclosed in the despatch.
I write to-day to the Department of Foreign Affairs.)

After having received them, and thoroughly examined them
I thought it best not to wait until the next conference to make

■^ Text : . . ; " une conversation s'en est suivie dans laquelle, a I'occasion de celui'
qui regne a Naples," . . . (a conversation ensued, . . .). Var. ". . une conversa-
tion ^/«^nz/« s'en est suivie. Le nom du roi de Naples s'Jiant prhenti h quelqu'un," . .
(a general conversation ensued. The name of the King of Naples having occurred to
some one, . . .)

' Text : " De quel roi de Naples parlez-vous ? nous ne savons qui c'est." (Of what
king . . .) Var.: " De quel roi de Naples /a:r/f-/<;« .? Nous ne connaissons point
r homme dont il est question." (Of what king of Nsiples do you speai F We do not
know the person you mention).

' Text: . . , "j'aireparti d'un ton ferme" (I firmly replied). Var. : . . , "j'ai
dit d'un ton ferme etfroid " (I firmly and coolly said).

* Two of the smallest principalities of Germany. That of Lichtenstein, for instance,,
only contained 7,000 inhabitants.

334 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

my opinion known. I drew up a reply, first in the form of a
verbal note ; then, remembering that the ministers of the four
courts had held conferences among themselves in which they had
drawn up and signed protocols, it struck me that it was im-
portant that there should not be between them and the minister
of your Majesty, merely conversations, of which no trace
remained, and that an official note would be the most suitable
means of opening the negotiations. Therefore, on the 1st of
October I addressed to the ministers of the other five powers
a note with my signature attached, bearing in substance : —

" That the eight powers who signed the treaty of May 30th,
appeared to me, for that simple reason/ fully qualified to appoint
a commission that should prepare, for the decision of the congress,
the points that it was first of all to settle, and to propose to it the
formation of the committees that it might have deemed
expedient to appoint, as wfell as the names of the persons who
were deemed most fit to sit on them ; but that their competence
extended no further; that, not being the congress, but only a-
fraction of it, the fact of conferring on themselves powers which
can only belong to that assembly, would constitute an usurpation
which, if called upon to concur in it, I should feel much
exercised to conciliate with my responsibility ; that the difficulty
found in summoning the congress was not of the nature of
those which grow less with time, and that, since it was sometime
or other to be overcome, nothing could be gained from delaying ;
that minor states had undoubtedly no right to interfere in the
general arrangements of Europe, but that such desire would not
even occur to them, and that, therefore, they would cause no
hindrance ; that all those considerations naturally led to wish
that the eight powers should, without delay, examine the pre-
liminary points to be decided by the congress, in order that
it might soon be opened, and that those points might be
submitted to it."

After having sent this note, I betook myself to the special
audience that the Emperor Alexander had accorded me. Count
Nesselrode came to tell me, on his Majesty's behalf, that he
desired to see me alone ; indeed, the Czar himself had reminded
me of that wish on his part the evening before, at a court ball,
where I had the honour of meeting his Majesty. On seeing me,
the emperor took my hand, but his manner was not so affectionate
as usual. His tone was curt, his demeanour serious, and perhaps
a little solemn. I saw clearly that he was about to play a part.

' Text: . . , " me paraissaient par cette circonstance seule," . . . (appeared to
me . . .). Var. ; . . . , " me paraissaient par cette circonstance seule, et a dejaut

de midiaieur," . , . (appeared simple reason, and for want of a me

diaior - . .).

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 235

" First of all," he said to me, " what is the situation of your
country ? "

" As well as your Majesty has wished it to be, and better than
one would have dared to hope."

"Public opinion?"

" It is daily improving."

" Liberal ideas ? "

" Nowhere is^there more liberal ideas than in France."

" But what about the liberty of the press .' "

" That exists with a few restrictions dictated by circum-
stances.^ Those restrictions will disappear in a couple of years,
and will not prevent all that is good and useful to be
published in the meantime."

"And the army.?"

" It is altogether devoted to the king. One hundred and
thirty thousand men are now under the colours, and, at the first
call, three hundred thousand more could join them."

" What about the marshals } "

"Which, sire?"

" Oudinot."

" He is devoted to the king."

"Soult.?"

" He was at first in a bit of humour. He was given the
governorship of Vendue ; he behaves there most satisfactorily.
He makes himself beloved and respected."

" And Ney .? "

" He regrets a little the endowments of the past ; your
Majesty might soothe his regrets."

" The two Chambers .? it seems to me they show signs of
opposition .' "

"As in all deliberate assemblies opinions may differ, but
affection to the sovereign is unanimous ; and notwithstanding
the difference of opinions, the government always secures a large
majority."

"But there is no accord."

"Who could have said such a thing to your Majesty ? When
after twenty-five years of revolution, the king finds himself in a
few months as firmly established on his throne as though he had
never left France, what more certain proof could there be that
everybody has the same end in view ? "

" Your personal position ? "

" The confidence and kindness of the king are beyond all I
could have hoped."

* The charter had guaranteed the liberty of the press ; but a law passed in
September, 1814, had re-established the censorship for a lapse of two years.

236 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

" Now let us talk business affairs. We must finish them here."

" That depends upon your Majesty. They shall be concluded
promptly and happily, if your Majesty displays the same noble-
ness and magnanimity as when dealing with French affairs."

" But it is important that each of us should obtain what suits
him."

"And that each obtain his rights."

" I shall keep what I have."

"Your Majesty would keep only what legitimately belongs
to him."

" I have made an agreement with the great powers."

" I am not aware whether your Majesty reckons France as
one of those powers."

" Yes, I certainly do. But if you will not admit that every
one of us is to get what suits him best, what do you mean .' "

" I place right first and interest after."
A'. " The interests of Europe constitute rights."

" This language, sire, is not yours ; it is foreign to your feel-
ings and your heart disapproves it."

" No, I repeat it ; the interests of Europe constitute rights."

I then turned towards the wainscot close to me, I put my
head against it, and striking it with my forehead, I exclaimed :
" Europe, Europe, unfortunate Europe ! " and turning round to
the emperor — " Shall it be said," I asked of him, " that you have
brought about her ruin .' "

He replied, " Rather war than to renounce what I possess."

I let my arms fall in the attitude of a man afflicted, but
decided, who had the air of saying to him, " the fault shall not
be ours." I kept silent. The Tzar remained a few minutes with-
out replying, he then repeated, " Yes ; rather war."

My attitude remained unchanged. Then raising his hands
and moving them nervously as I had never seen him do before,
and in a manner that recalled to my mind the passage that
terminates the elegy of Marcus Aurelius, he cried rather than
said, " It is time for the play, I must go : I promised the
emperor that I would do so ; I am expected" — and he moved
away. Having opened the door, he came back to me, clasped
me in his arms and said, with a voice that was no longer his
own, " Adieu, adieu 1 we shall meet again ! "

In all that conversation of which alone I can relate to your
Majesty the striking features, Poland and Saxony were not
once mentioned, but only indicated by periphrases. Thus that
the Czar would designate Saxony in saying, " Those who have
betrayed the cause of Europe," to which I was in the case of
replying, " Sire, that is a question of dates," and, after a slight

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 237

pause, I might have added, " and the effect of the difficulties into
which one may have been thrown by circumstances."

The emperor once spoke of the allies. I criticized that
expression as I had done at the conference, and he accounted for
it as having the habit of using it.

Yesterday, which should have been that of the second con-
ference, M. de Mercy was sent to me by Prince Metternich to
inform me that it would not be held.

A friend of Herr von Gentz having gone to see him in the
afternoon found him engaged on a work which, he told him,
was very pressing. I believe it was a reply to my note.

In the evening at the house of the Prince von Trautmansdorf ^
the plenipotentiaries reproached me for having addressed it to
them, and especially for having given it, by signing it, an
official character. I told them that as they wrote and signed
amongst themselves, I had believed that it was necessary that I
should also write and sign. I infer from this that my note
rather perplexed them.

To-day Prince Metternich wrote to inform me that a con-
ference would be held this evening at eight o'clock ; later he
sent me word that there would be none, because he was expected
at the Czar's.

Such is, sire, the present state of affairs.

Your Majesty sees that our position here is intricate : it be-
comes more so every day. The Czar Alexander gives full
swing to his ambition ; in this he is excited by M. de la Harpe
and by Prince Czartoryski. Prussia hopes for a large increase ;
Austria, pusillanimous as usual, has only a bashful ambition ;
but she displays complacency in order to be aided. And these
are not the only difficulties : there are others still which proceed
from agreements made by the courts, formerly allied, at a time
when they did not hope to beat him whose overthrow they have
witnessed, and by which they intended to make with him a
peace which would enable them to imitate him. To-day, your
Majesty replaced on the throne, has exalted justice ; the powers
for the benefit of whom those agreements were made, will not
renounce them, and those who perhaps, regret being bound do
not know how to release themselves. It is I believe the case
with England.^ The ministers of your Majesty might thus
meet with such obstacles that they would have to renounce all
other hope than that of preserving honour. But we have not yet
come to that. I am, &c.

1 Councillor of State and High Chamberlain of the Emperor of Austria
( 1 749-1817).

- Var : . . . dont U minisire estfaible (whose minister is weak).

338 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

No. 4A. — The King's Ambassadors at the Congress to
THE Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, October 8, 1814.

Monsieur le Comte,

In our despatch of the 4th inst. we had the honour to
inform you that the close logic that we opposed to the four
powers, who still represent themselves as bound together by-
secret clauses, embarrasses them very much.

It is in fact natural that these powers, whose aim it is to get
France to sanction the overthrow of all principles founded on
public law, and, at the same time, to consent to the plunder of
Saxony, be singularly inconvenienced when they find that same
France willing to act only in accord with justice.

However difficult be our part to play with persons who
doubt our sincerity and will not allow principles of reason to
modify their views, all we learn confirms us in the belief that
we must strictly adhere to the line we have adopted. We feel
that it is the only one that can form a bulwark to oppose the in-
vading forces that threaten Europe, if serious attention is not
paid to them.

We have the honour of acquainting you with all that has
been done since our last despatch.

Lord Castlereagh has drawn up a project of declaration
which Prince Metternich handed to Prince Talleyrand on the
evening of the 3rd. (No. i, documents).

It was communicated only under the form of a project, but
the reading of it confirms us in our opinion that the four great
allied powers will, conforming to their arrangements, continue
to follow a system of convenience adopted for the supposition
that Bonaparte remain on the throne of France, and that they
do not take into consideration the re-establishment of the house
of Bourbon, which changes all the state of Europe, and by
means of which everything should be restored on its former
basis.

At first glance, it is plain that great danger must result
from this system, that a real and durable equilibrium becomes
impossible, and that considering the weakness of the cabinet of
Vienna, France alone would no longer be mistress of the events
that the future seems to have in store.

Prince Talleyrand replied by private letter to Lord Castle-
reagh. Therein he lays special stress on the importance of the
idea that the congress should open, and that the powers could
only prepare and propose — but not decide alone — matters of
general interest.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 239

Though that letter be in the form of a note, it is neverthe-
less couched in such terms as will serve to enlighten Europe,
some day, if necessary, concerning the attitude followed by
France in the affairs of the congress. (See No. 2).

Since then. Prince Metternich has summoned a second con-
ference.

The Prince de Talleyrand and Count de Labrador were
invited to it, but the ministers of Sweden and Portugal did not
attend it.

That conference has been barren of result. It was felt, how-
ever, that it was necessary to acquaint the different powers with
the motives that delayed the opening of the congress.

Prince Talleyrand opposed the project of Lord Castlereagh
as being contrary to the principle by which the congress is con-
stituted and which Article XXXII. of the treaty of Paris distinctly
set forth.^ Thereupon the plenipotentiaries agreed to draw
up new projects, and the next day Prince Talleyrand sent
to Prince Metternich a draft which could serve for the purpose.
(See note 3).

This draft, Monsieur le Comte, as you will see on reading it,
sets forth, at the same time, the principle by virtue of which the
congress assembles, the reasons for delay, the consideration felt
for the rights of the powers, and the principle upon which
each plenipotentiary shall be admitted.

According to the principle established by the declaration, the
King of Saxony would find himself summoned and Murat
excluded. Nevertheless the exclusion of the latter offers no
less difficulties than the admission of the former, and we
suppose that there exists between Russia, England, and Prussia
an agreement on the points that our instructions enjoin us not
to admit.

Prince Metternich often pleads Murat's cause, and seeks to in-
timidate the congress with the obstacles that he might offer
at the head of eighty thousand men, if, at the news of his
exclusion, he marched into the interior of Italy. We point out
how little justified is this fear, and that it would only require a
landing of French and Spanish troops in Sicily to put an end
for ever to that royal comedy in which no one can wish to take
part, and which would be more dangerous to Austria than even
France. We see at each step we take that the principal
difficulty which opposes our success is that arising from the

I jYrt. XXXII. — In the delay of two months all the powers that have been
engaged, on one side or the other, in the present war, shall send plenipotentiaries to
Vienna to settle at a general congress the arrangements which are to complete the
provisions of the present treaty.

340 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

timid character of the Austrian ministers, and from the peculiar
apathy of the nation ; that Russia and Prussia carrying that
conviction in their calculations, shall insist upon their unjust
pretensions, and that, perhaps nothing will remain for us but
to declare that, protesting against such violence, France will take
no part in it. We often repeat that it is singular that it should
be the French embassy at the congress, that takes it upon itself
to transact the business of the Austrian cabinet.

Lord Castlereagh equally lacks force and dignity in this
circumstance, and we sometimes ask ourselves how he will
justify one day before Parliament the heedlessness he displays
for the great principles which constitute nations.

The ministers of Bavaria, Denmark, and Sardinia begin
to murmur, and we are told that they are concerting themselves
for asking the great powers whether the congress is formed, and
if so, when it will assemble.

This idea was suggested by us, and we hope that this
step shall, if the powers tarry too much, lead to an explana-
tion.

To-day, in the evening, Prince Metternich invited Prince
Talleyand to a new conference, and requested him to arrive at
his house an hour before the general meeting in order to discuss
some important points.

The result of that conversation induces the hope that Prince
Metternich will adopt some of our ideas, and that he will seek
to conciliate the pretensions of the powers with the principles
that we put forward.

At the general conference; which was attended by the
ministers of Portugal and Sweden, no agreement was arrived at
concerning our projected declaration. It was decided not to
prejudge anything by an inflexible principle too loudly pro-
claimed, but to adjourn the opening of the congress until
November 1st, and to endeavour, in the meantime to promote
business by means of confidential communications between the
different powers. It is in this sense that a project of declara-
tion was prepared and presented by the other ministers. After
long debates, Prince Talleyrand succeeded in adding the fol-
lowing phrase to it : " That the propositions to be made at the
congress should conform to the public law and to the just
expectation of Europe." The other ministers tried in vain to
have that term public law omitted. The Prussian ministers
refused for a long time, and it was only after a debate which
lasted two hours, that the insertion was carried, so to speak, at the
point of the sword. It has been clearly seen that they wished to
finish the affairs rather by means of their own accord, than by

THE CONGRESS OF- VIENNA. 241

conforming to the principles of reason and justice, upon which
is properly founded the public law of Europe.

"We have the honour of addressing you a copy of that de-
claration which, save several corrections, shall be published, such
as it is. (See No. 4.)

We have not, as you see. Monsieur le Comte, obtained a
complete victory, but things are intact, the principles of public
law are maintained, and the declaration leaves us a great latitude
for watching over all the interests it is our duty to do.

We are told that the minister of Bavaria has sent in a
formal protest with regard to his exclusion from the committee
summoned to prepare work.

Prince Metternich appeased him by holding out to him the
hope that Bavaria will preside over the commission which is to
deal with the affairs of Germany, and that, in that capacity,
she would have a voice in all the general arrangements.

Be pleased to accept

No. 4.— The Prince Talleyrand to the King
Louis XVIII.

Vienna, October 9, 18 14.

Sire,

The ministers of the four courts, being embarrassed by
my note of October ist, and finding no argument with which to
combat it, have hit upon no other plan ^an that of becoming
angry. " That note," Herr von Humboldt said, " is a firebrand
thrown among us." " They would like to sever us," said Count
Nesselrode, " but they will not succeed in doing so." Thus openly
avowing what was easy to suspect, that they had formed a league
among themselves to become masters of all and to constitute
themselves the supreme arbiters of Europe. Lord Castlereagh,
with more moderation and in a gentle tone, told me that their
intention was that, the conference to which Count de Labrador
and myself had been invited, should be quite confidential, and
that I had deprived it of that character by addressing them
a note, and especially an official one. I replied that it was their
fault and not mine ; that they had asked me for my opinion, and
that I was forced to give it, and that if I had reduced it to
writing and signed it, it was that, having seen that in their
conferences among themselves they wrote and signed, I was
induced to suppose that it was necessary that I should do the
same.

However the contents of my letter having transpired, those
gentlemen, in order to allay the effect of it, had recourse to the

VOL. II. R

242 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

usual means of the cabinet of Berlin. They replied that the
principles I put forth were but a decoy ; that we wanted the
left bank of the Rhine, had designs on Belgium, and wished for
war. That came to me from all sides ; but I ordered all the
members of the legation to explain themselves before all with so
much simplicity and candour and in so positive a manner, that
the authors of those absurd rumours reaped only the shame of
having spread them.

On the evenmg of the 3rd of October, Prince Metternich,
with whom I was at the house of the Duchess of Sagan,^ handed
me a draft of a declaration arranged by Lord •Castlereagh ; this
second project differed from the first, only inasmuch as it tended
to have what the four courts proposed considered as being
but a consequence of the first of the secret articles of the treaty
of May 30th.^ But neither was the principle on which he based
his project just (for Lord Castlereagh evidently lent to one of the
provisions of the article a sense that it did not have, and that
we could not admit), nor, had the principle been just, would the
consequence drawn from it have been legitimate ; the attempt
was thus doubly unfortunate.

I wrote to Lord Castlereagh. I gave a confidential tone to
my letter. I endeavoured to point out all the reasons that
militated against the proposed plan. (The copy of my letter is
subjoined to the despatch I am writing to-day to the depart-
ment.) Your Majesty will see that I have especially endeavoured
to hint, with all possible deference, that the motive for which
the plan had been proposed had not escaped me. I deemed it
advisable to declare that it was impossible for me to consent to
anything contrary to principles, seeing that unless we remained
invariably attached to them, we could not again resume, in the
eyes of the nations of Europe, the rank and consideration to
which we are entitled since the return of your Majesty, and
because, discarding them would cause a revival of the Revolution
which only resulted from a long forgetfulness of principles.

I have learned that, when Lord Castlereagh received my

' Sagan, city of Silesia, chief town of a principality formerly possessed by the
famous Wallenstein. It passed afterwards to the family of the Biren, Dukes of Cour-
land. Catherine Wilhelmine, daughter of Pierre, Duke of Courland, succeeded
him in 1800, as Duchess of Sagan. She died in 1839. Her sister Pauline succeeded
her. In 1S44, the duchy reverted to Dorothy, third daughter of Pierre, Duke of
Courland, and wife of Edmond, Duke of Dino, and, later, of Talleyrand-Perigord,
nephew of Prince Talleyrand.

^ This is that article : " The disposal of the territories renounced by His Most
Christian Majesty according to Article III. of the open treaty, and the relations from
which a system of real and durable equilibrium i-> to result for Europe, shall be settled
at the Congress, on the bases arrived at by the allied pcnvers, and in conformity to the
general provisions contained in the following articles, &c "

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 243

letter, he gave it to read to the minister of Portugal, who was
at his house, and who confessed to him, that, in law we were
right, but added that it was nevertheless necessary to know if
what we proposed was practicable, which was really asking, in
other terms, if the four courts dispense with arrogating to
themselves powers over Europe which the latter had not given
them.

On that day we had a conference, which at first, was only
attended by two or three plenipotentiaries, the other ministers
arriving only at intervals of a quarter of an hour ; Lord Castle-
reagh had brought my letter in order to communicate it. It was
passed from hand to hand ; Prince Metternich and Count
Nesselrode simply glanced at it, as men whose penetration
was such that the single inspection of a document sufficed for
grasping its entire contents. I had been forewarned that
I should be asked to withdraw my note. Indeed, Prince
Metternich made that request to me. I replied that I could
not. Count de Labrador said it was too late ; that it would
do no good, for he had already sent a copy of it to his court.

"It is then necessary that we reply.'" said M. de Metter-
nich.

" If you wish to," I said.

"My opinion is," he replied, "that we should regulate our
affairs all alone." Meaning by " we " the four courts.

I replied, without hesitation : " If you consider the question
from that point of view, I am quite your man ; I am quite
ready ; I ask nothing better."

" How do you mean it 1 " he said.

" It is very easy," I replied. " I shall no longer attend your
conferences. I shall be here only as a member of the congress,
and I shall wait until it opens."

Instead of renewing his proposal, Prince Metternich returned
gradually and by the use of various periphrases to general
propositions concerning the inconvenience that the actual
opening of the congress would cause.

Count Nesselrode said, rather thoughtlessly, that the Czar
Alexander intended to start on the 25th, to which I was obliged
to reply in a rather indifferent tone :

" I am sorry for that, for he will not witness the con-
clusion of affairs."

" How can we summon the congress," said Prince Metter- !/

nich, " when none of the questions which are to be submitted
to it are ready .■' "

" Very well," I replied, " to show you that it is not a spirit of
contradiction that animates me and that I am disposed to

R 2

244 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

adopt all measures that are not in opposition to principles
which I cannot desert, since nothing is yet ready for the opening
of the congress, since you desire to adjourn it, let it be delayed
a fortnight or three weeks, I consent to it, but on two con-
ditions : the one that you convene it at once for a fixed day,
the other, that you state, in the note of convocation, the rule
according to which its members shall be admitted."

I wrote on a piece of paper that rule, about the same
terms as those contained in the instructions of your Majesty.
The paper circulated from hand to hand. There were a few
questions and some objections, which, however, did not settle
anything, and the ministers, who had come in one after the
other, having left in the same way. the conference died out,
so to say. instead of running its natural course.

Lord Castlereagh, who had remained among the last, and
with whom I went downstairs, tried to win me over to their
opinion, by giving me to understand that certain matters,
which most interested my court, might be arranged to my
satisfaction.

" It is not," I said to him, " of such and such private matters
that it is now question, but of the principles which should serve
to regulate all. If once the connection is broken, how are we
to resume it .'' We have to meet the wishes of Europe. What
shall we have done for her, if we do not replace in honour
the maxims to the disregard of which her misfortunes are due 1
The present epoch is one of those which scarcely presents
itself once in the course of several centuries. A better occa-
sion could never be offered us. Why not place ourselves in
a position to take advantage of it ? "

" Ah," he replied, with a sort of embarrassment, " because
there are difficulties that you do not know of."

" No, I do not know of them," I replied, in the tone of a
man who had no curiosity to know them.

Thereupon we took leave of each other.

I dined at Prince Windischgraetz.'^ Herr von Gentz was there.
We talked a long time on the points discussed in the con-
ferences which we had attended. He seemed to regret that I
had not arrived sooner at Vienna. He was pleased to believe
that the matters with which he seemed dissatisfied might have

' Alfred, Prince von Windischgraetz, of an old illustrious family of Styria. He
was bom at Brussels in 1787, entered the army and became general. His name
became celebrated only in 1848 : he then commanded at Prague and had to suppress a
terrible insurrection. He crushed it and was, in recompense, appointed field-marshal.
He afterwards took Vienna, which had fallen in the power of the mob, and was sent
to Hungary ; but he failed in the latter task and was recalled. He died in
1862.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 245

taken a different turn. He finished by confessing that they all
felt that in the main I was right, but that pride was at stake,
and that having made a step forward, the best disposed felt it
difficult to retrace it.

Two days passed without a conference being held. A f^te
one day, a hunt the other, were the causes of this. In the
meantime I was introduced to the Duchess of Oldenburg.^
I expressed to her my regrets that she had not come to Paris
with her brother. She replied that that journey was only put off;
she then proceeded at once to putting me the same questions as
the emperor concerning your Majesty, the state of public opinion,
of our finances, and army ; all questions that would have sur-
prised me very much from a woman of twenty-two, had they
not seemed to contrast still more with her bearing, her looks,
and the sound of her voice. I replied to all in a sense con-
forming to what we have to do here, and to the interests we
have to defend.

She further questioned me about the King of Spain, about
his brother and his uncle, speaking of them in terms scarcely
becoming, and I replied in a tone that I believed best cal-
culated to give weight to my opinion on the personal merit of
those princes.

Herr von Gentz, who came to my house at the moment
when I returned from visiting the Duchess of Oldenburg, told
me that he had been charged to draw up a project for the
convocation of the congress. The day before I had made a
draft consonant with what I had proposed at the previous
conference, and had sent it to Prince Metternich, begging him
to communicate it to the other ministers. Herr von Gentz
assured me that he had no knowledge of it. He told me that
in his, there was no question of the rule of admission that
I had proposed, because Prince Metternich feared that by
publishing it, they would drive to extremities him who
reigns at Naples ; his plenipotentiary thus finding himself
excluded. We discussed that point, Herr von Gentz and myself,
and he seemed persuaded that what Prince Metternich feared
would not happen.

I expected a conference for the next day, but three-quarters
of the day having slipped away without my having received
any intimation, I no longer counted on it, when I received a
note from Prince Metternich who informed me that there would
be one at eight o'clock, and that if I would come to his

1 Catherine-Paulowna, sister to the Czar Alexander. Born in 1795 ; widow in
1812, of Pierre-Frederick-Georges, Grand Duke of Oldenburg, married again, in
j8l6, to the King of Wurtemberg. .'

246 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

house a little before, he would find means of introducing some
very important matters. (Such were the terms of his note.)
I was at his house at seven o'clock. I was at once introduced.
He first spoke of a project of declaration that he had had
drawn up, which differed, he said, a little from mine but was,
on the whole, very similar, and with which he hoped that I
would be satisfied. I asked him for it ; he did not have it.
" Probably," I said to him, " it is being communicated to the
allies ? "

" Speak no more of allies," replied he, " there are no
longer any."

"There are here people," I said to him, "who should be
such in this way that even without concerting themselves, they
should hold the same views, and desire the same end. How can
you have the courage to place Russia as a belt around your
principal and most important possessions, Hungary and
Bohemia ? How can you suffer that the patrimony of an old
and good neighbour in whose family an archduchess is married,
be given to your natural enemy .' It is strange that it should be
us who object to this, and you who do not ! . . . ."

He said that I had no confidence in him.

I replied, laughing, that he had not given me many
motives for having it, and I reminded him of certain circum-
stances in which he had not kept his word. " Besides," I
added, " how can I have confidence in a man whose affairs
are all a mystery for those who are the most disposed to
arrange matters .? As for myself, I make no mystery, and I
have no need to do so ; that is the advantage of those who
negotiate only with principles. There, I continued, are pens
and paper. Will you write that France asks for nothing, and
will accept nothing, and I will sign it .'' "

" But there is," he said, " the Naples business, which is
really your own."

I replied, " No more mine than anybody else's. It is for
me only a question of principles. I ask that he who has a right
to be at Naples, be at Naples, and nothing more ; and this is
what everybody ought to wish as well as myself. Let prin-
ciples be observed, and I shall be found most easy. I will tell
you frankly what I ever can and what I never shall consent to ;
I feel that the King of Saxony, in his present position, may be
obliged to make a sacrifice. I believe that he will be disposed
to make one, because he is wise, but if they mean to deprive
him of all his states, and give the kingdom of Saxony to
Riissia, I shall never consent to that. I shall never consent
either to Luxemburg, or Mayence being given to Prussia. I

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 247

shall never consent to Russia crossing the Vistula, and having
forty-four millions of subjects in Europe, and her frontiers on
the Oder. But if Luxemburg be given to Holland, Mayence
to Bavaria ; if the king and the kingdom of Saxony be pre-
served, and if Russia pass not the Vistula, I shall have no
objections to make for that part of Europe."

Prince Metternich thereupon took my hand saying, " Our
views are not so opposed as you think. I promise you that
Prussia shall not have Luxemburg nor Mayence. We desire no
more than yourself that Russia be increased beyond measure,
and as to Saxony, we shall do our very best to preserve at
least a portion of it."

It was only to know his own views regarding these
different points that I spoke to him as I did. Reverting
then to the convocation of the congress, he insisted upon
the necessity of not publishing at present the rule of admis-
sion that I had proposed, " because," he said, " it would scare
every one ; and, as to myself, it perplexes me at present ; for
Murat, on seeing his plenipotentiary excluded, will know his
case is hopeless ; he will believe that no one knows what his
passionate temper may lead him to do ; that he is ready in Italy,
and that we are not."

Having been informed that the ministers had assembled, we
repaired to the conference. Prince Metternich opened it by
announcing that he would read two projects, the one pre-
pared by myself, the other by him. The Prussians declared
themselves for that of Prince Metternich, saying that it pre-
judged nothing, whereas mine prejudged a great deal. Count
Nesselrode was of the same opinion. The minister of Sweden,
Herr von Lowenhielm,^ who was attending congress for the first
time, said that nothing must be prejudged. It was also the
opinion of Lord Castlereagh, and I knew it was that of Prince
Metternich. That project confined itself to adjourning the
opening of the congress to November i, and said nothing
more, which gave rise to Count de Palmella, minister of Portugal,
observing that a second declaration to convoke the congress
would be necessary, and this was agreed upon. This was only
delaying the difficulty but not resolving it. However, as the old
pretensions had been abandoned, as it wais no longer a question
of everything being regulated by the eight powers, and of
leaving to the congress only the faculty of approving ; as the

' Gustavus von Lowenhielm, bom in 1771, was officer in the Swedish army. He
was aide-de-camp to Gustavus III., and later to Eernadotte. In 1815, he left the
army for diplomacy, was sent to the congress at Vienna, and afterwards was ap-
pointed ambassador at Paris.

248 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

plenipotentiaries spoke only of preparing by free and confi-
dential communications with the ministers of the other powers,
the questions which the congress should decide, I thought that
an act of complacency which would not infringe principles,
could be useful to the progress of affairs, and I declared that I
consented to the adoption of the project, but on the condition
that in the place where it was said that the formal opening
of the congress should be adjourned until November i, they
should add, and shall be made according to the principles of public
right. These words provoked an uproar difficult to conceive.
Prince von Hardenberg, standing, leaning his wrists on the table,
almost menacing, and shouting as is the wont of those who
are afflicted with the same infirmity as himself, uttered these
words, interrupted now and again :

" No, Monsieur . . . , the term public law is useless. Why
say that we shall act only according to public law ? that goes
without saying."

I replied, " That if that went without saying, it would go
better by saying it."

Herr von Humboldt exclaimed, " What has public law to
do here .? "

To which I replied, " It has this to do here that it has brought
you to this congress."

Lord Castlercagh drew me aside, and asked me if when
they had yielded to my desires, I should be more easy.

I inquired in turn whether if 1 showed myself easy to
please, I could expect him to do the same in the Naples
business.

He promised to second me with all his influence : " I shall
speak of it," he said, " to Metternich ; 1 have the right to give
advice on this matter."

"You give me your word of honour," I said.

" I give you it," he replied.

" And," I retorted, " I give you mine to be difficult only on '
those principles that I could not abandon."

Nevertheless Herr von Gentz having approached Prince
Metternich represented to him that one could not refuse to
speak of public law in an act of such a nature as that being
mooted. Prince Metternich had previously proposed to put
the point at issue to the vote, thus betraying the use they
would have made of the powers they had assumed, had their
first project been admitted. They concluded by consenting
to the addition I demanded, but there was a no less lively
discussion on the question of deciding where it should be placed,
and they finally agreed to place it a sentence higher than

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 249

that where I had proposed it should be inserted. Herr von
Gentz could not help saying even at the conference : " This
evening, gentlemen, belongs to the history of the congress. It
is not I who shall divulge it, because my duty forbids me to do
so, but it will be found there, certainly."

He has since told me that he never saw anything like it.

That is why I look upon it as fortunate to have been able,
without abandoning principles, to do something that could be-
regarded as conducive to the meeting of the congress.

Herr von Lowenhielm is minister of Sweden and Russia,
and a Russian at heart. That is probably why he was sent here,
the Prince Royal ^ of Sweden wishing all that the Russians wish.

The princes who were formerly members of the Confederation
of the Rhine, begin to assemble in order to urge the opening of
the congress. They are already drafting projects between
themselves for the organization of Germany.

I have the honour to be . . .

No. 5A. — The King's Ambassadors at the Congress to
THE Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, October \7., 1S14.

Monsieur le Comte,

We have the honour of addressing you a printed copy of
the declaration made in the name of the powers who signed the
treaty of Paris. It is said that we have won a victory by
having introduced the words public law. That opinion ought
to enable you to gauge the spirit which animates the congress.

It may so happen that the adjournment cause uneasiness
in people's minds. On the other hand, it is certain, that
sufficient justice is not yet being rendered to the principles
which guide the king in his political relations. For the last
twenty years, Europe has only been accustomed to appreciate
force, and to fear its abuse. No one yet indulges the hope and
shares the conviction that a great power can wish to be moderate.

It has then appeared to us of importance that the publication
of this document, the first result of the political work of the
congress, be accompanied by a few observations that put the
action of France and its actual influence in its true light.

We have the honour, Monsieur le Comte, to address to you
those that we believe may be used in the Moniteur, the spirit
of which can furnish the right direction to other newspaper
articles.

' Eematlotte, then Prince Royal, and later. King of Sweden, under the name of
Charles XIV.

250 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

We have hopes that Austria will support the resistance that
we oppose in all circumstances to the cupidity which Russia
and Prussia manifest, and the force of our language, shall be
proportionate to the degree of confidence we shall be able to
place in the energy of the cabinet of Vienna.

We believe we may be certain that she will not sanction
the destruction of Saxony, and, though not everything, it will
already be useful that the cabinet of Vienna concur with us to
protest against such violence. We observe generally that Russia
makes Germany uneasy, and that, without the support of Prussia,
her confederate system would lack basis.

We have had occasion to speak of the endowments, and we
seek to save as many private interests as is possible. But this
matter is placed under the influence of the alliance contracted
by the allies at Chaumont. A certain power appears to have
given its word to another to accord nothing, and thence it is
implied that principles can no longer be attacked.

You feel, Monsieur le Comte, that so long as we shall have to
negotiate with powers that assume the character of allies, not
even the principle that the domains given in the countries which
were ceded by the treaties, should be left to the donees. That
does not, however, prevent from seeking, on every occasion, to
spare the private interests to which it is advisable to afford some
support.

The Czar of Russia spoke yesterd'ay to the English ambas-
sador. Lord Stewart, '^ of the re-establishment of Poland,
indicating that he wished to have one of his brothers elected
as king thereof This question cannot fail to be mooted soon.
We think that the Emperor of Russia has not yet any set ideas
on the subject, and that he is feeling his way to becoming
master of that country.

Be pleased to accept . . .

No. 5. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King
Louis XVIII.

Vienna, October!-},, 1814.

Sire,

I have sent in the despatch addressed to the department,
the declaration such as it was published yesterday morning.

' Charles William Stewart, Earl Vane, later Marquis of Londonderry, after the
death of his brother, Lord Castlcreagh, bom in 177^ at Dublin. He entered the
army and was colonel in 1803, when he was appointed Under-Secretary of State to the
War Orfice. He served afterwards in Spain as brigadier-general. In 1S15 he was
appointed ambassador at Vienna, and plenipotentiary at the congress. He retired in
1819, and did not thereafter discharge any public functions until his death in 1854.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 251

It adjourns the opening of the congress to November i. Some
changes, bearing only on the wording, upon which the ministers
have agreed without a meeting, and by the medium of Herr von
Gentz, were introduced. We have not had a conference since
the 8th, nor consequently any of those discussions with which I
am afraid I have wearied your Majesty in my last two letters.

The Prussian minister at London, old Count Jacobi Kloest,^
has been summoned to the aid of Herr von Humboldt. He is
one of the lights of Prussian diplomacy. He came to see me
— he is an old acquaintance The conversation promptly led
him to speak of the great difficulties that presented themselves
and. of which the greatest, according to him, proceeded from the
Czar Alexander, who wished to have the duchy of Warsaw. I
told him that if the Czar Alexander wished to have the duchy,
he would probably provide himself with a cession from the King
of Saxony, and that then we should see.

" Why of the King of Saxony } " he replied, quite astonished.

" Because," I replied, " the duchy belongs to him by virtue of
the cessions that you and Austria have made him and of the
treaties that you, Austria, and Russia have signed."

" Then " — with the air of a man who has just made a dis-
covery, and to whom something quite unexpected has been
revealed — " it is true, Jove ! " said he, " the duchy belongs to
him." At least, Count Jacobi Kloest is not one of those who
believe that the sovereignty can be lost and acquired by the
single fact of conquest.

I have reason to believe that we shall obtain for the King
of Etruria — Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalia, but in that case
we must no longer think of Tuscany, to which, however, he
certainly has some claims. The Emperor of Austria has already
hinted to the Archduchess Marie-Louise that he. had little hope
of preserving Parma.

People within my hearing often wonder, and Lord Castlereagh
plainly asked me, whether the treaty of April 1 1 ^ is being put
into execution. The silence of the budget in that respect has
been remarked by the Czar of Russia. Prince Metternich says
that Austria cannot be held to pay off the interest of the
moneys invested in the Moni de Milan ' bank, if France does not

' Baron Jacobi Kloest, a Prussian diplomat, born in 1745, ambassador of Prussia
at Vienna in 1790, tlien at London, 1792, where he remained until l8l6. In 1799, he
represented Prussia at the Congress of Rastadt and denounced loudly the assassination
of the French plenipotentiary by the Austrian hussars. He died in 1817.

* The treaty of April n, 1814, signed between Prussia, Austria, and Russia, with
accession of England on the one part, and of Napoleon, on the other, was intended
to determine the situation of the emperor and his family. It will be remembered
that an endowment of 2,500,000 francs was promised him.

' A state-bank founded at Milan by Napoleon under the name of Mont Napoleon.

352 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

execute the clauses of the treaty which are incumbent on her.
On every occasion, this matter always reappears under different
forms, and almost always in an unpleasant manner. However
painful it may be to dwell on such money matters, I can but
say to your Majesty that it is desirable that something be
done in this respect. A letter from M. de Jaucourt, who by
command of your Majesty, should inform me of it, would
certainly have a good eifect.

An almost unanimous intention is shown here of removing
Bonaparte from the island of Elba. No one yet has any fixed
notion as to the place where he can be sent. I proposed one
of the Azores. It is fifteen hundred miles from any mainland.
Lord Castlereagh seems to believe it possible that the Portuguese
might be induced to lend themselves to that arrangement ; but,
in this discussion the money question would re-appear. The son
of Bonaparte is no longer treated as he was at the time of his
arrival at Vienna. He is treated with less pomp and more sim-
plicity. They have taken the grand ribbon of the Legion of
Honour from him, and have substituted that of St. Stephen.

The Czar Alexander, as is his wont, only speaks of liberal
ideas. I do not know whether it is these that persuaded him,
that in order to pay his court to his hosts, he should go to
Wagram, there to visit the scene of their defeat. What is
certain is, that he had M. de Czernecheff send for officers who,
having been present in that battle, could inform him of the
positions and movements of the two armies, which he was
pleased to study on the field. It was replied to the Archduke
Johan ^ the day before yesterday, who asked where the emperor
was : "Your Highness, His Majesty is at Wagram."

It appears that he is to go in a few days to Pesth, where
he has requested a ball for the 19th. His plan is to appear in a
Hungarian costume. Before, or after, the ball he will probably go
to mourn over his sister's tomb.^ At that ceremony, there will

The emperor and the members of his family had funds deposited there, and Austria,
in accordance with Article XIII. of the treaty of April 11, had agreed to pay the
arrears of that institution.

^ The Archduke Johan was the seventh son of the Emperor Leopold ; born in
1782. He commanded in chief the Austrian army at Hohenlinden. In iSoi he
became director-general of the fortifications. He had equally important commands
in 1805 and 1S09. Fallen into disgrace he played no military rSle in the last defeat
of 1813 and 1814., and lived in retreat until 1848. The parliament united at Frankfort
there named him vicar of the German Empire. At the same time the emperor had
appointed him as general-lieutenant in Austria. He governed some time in quality
of vicar of the empire, but the events which took place forced him to retire. He died
in 1859.

The grand-duchess Alexandra Polowna, born in 1783, married in 179910 the
Archduke Joseph-Anthony, brother of the Emperor Francis, palatine of the kingdom
of Hungary. She died in 1 80 1.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 253

be a crowd of Greeks whom he has had informed in advance,
and who will hasten to come to see the only monarch who is
of their creed. I do not know to what extent that pleases this
court, but I fancy it does not please it very much.

Lord Stewart, brother of Lord Castlereagh and ambassador
at the court of Vienna, arrived several days ago. He has been
presented to the Czar Alexander who said to him (according to
his account), " We are about to do a grand and noble thing — re-
establish Poland by giving her one of my brothers, or my
sister's ^ (Duchess of Oldenburg) husband for king."

Lord Stewart said frankly to him, " I see in this no inde-
pendence for Poland, and I don't believe that England, though
less interested than the other powers, can accommodate herself
to that arrangement."

If I am not very much mistaken, either the union between the
four courts is more apparent than real, and proceeds solely from
that circumstance that some do not wish to suppose that we
have the means of acting, and that the others fancy that we
have not the wish to do so. Those who know us to be opposed
to their pretensions, think we have only arguments to oppose
them. The Czar Alexander said, a few days ago, " Talleyrand
acts the minister of Louis XIV. here." Herr von Humboldt,
seeking to win, and at the same time to intimidate Count von
Schulenburg, minister of Saxony, said, " The minister of France
comes here with words noble enough ; but they either conceal
an afterthought, or they have nothing to back them up. Woe
be to those who believe in them."

The means of putting an end to all these remarks and dis-
pelling all irresolution would be for your Majesty to address
a declaration to your people, and after having disclosed the
principles that you have ordered us to follow, and your firm
resolution not to deviate from them, simply leave others to
gather from it that the just cause would not remain unsupported.
Such a declaration, as I conceive it and as I intend submitting
to your Majesty, would not lead to war — which no one wants —
but would induce those who have pretensions to moderate them,
and would give to the others the courage to defend their in-
terests and those of Europe. But as that declaration would be
at present premature, 1 ask your Majesty permission to speak to
you about it later, if subsequent circumstances seemed to me to
necessitate it.

Our language is beginning to make an impression. I much

' There is an error here. The prince Pierre-Frederick Georges, Duke of Olden-
burg, husband of the grand-duchess Catherine, sister of Alexander, died in 1812.

2S4 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

regret that an accident met with by Count von Miinster pre-
vented him from coming to the aid of Lord Castlereagh who
has really need of support. He will be, so we are told, in a
couple of days in a condition to attend the sittings.

I have the honour to be, &c.

No. 2B. — King Louis XVIII. to the Prince de
Talleyrand.

Paris, October i^ 1814.

My Cousin,

I have received your despatches of September 29th, and
October 4th. It will be well for the future to number them as I
do this. Consequently those of which I acknowledge the receipt
should bear the numbers 2 and 3.

I will begin by telling you with genuine satisfaction that
I am perfectly satisfied with the stand you have taken, and the
language that you used as well with the plenipotentiaries as
in your painful conference with the Czar Alexander. You un-
doubtedly know, that he has summoned General Pozzo di Borgo.
God grant that that wise man bring back his sovereign to
more sensible views ; but it is on the contrary hypothesis that
we must reason.

To prevent the success of the ambitious projects of Russia
and Prussia is the end towards which we should tend. Bonaparte
unaided would perhaps have been successful there, but he em-
ployed means that are not and never shall be mine. I must then
have aid. That the small states might offer me would never be
sufficient. 1 must then have that of at least one great power.
We should have Austria and England, if they really understood
their interests ; but I fear that they are already engaged. I
particularly fear a system which prevails with many English,
and with which the Duke of Wellington himself seems to be
imbued, namely, to entirely separate the interests of Great Britain
from those of Hanover. In that case I cannot employ force to
cause the triumph of right, but I can still refuse to be guarantee
for iniquity ; we shall see if they shall dare to attack me on that
account. What I say here applies only to Poland and Saxony
— for, as to Naples, I shall always rely on the fine reply that
Herr von Humboldt ^ made you.

I suppose things at their worst, because I find that it is the
best manner of reasoning — but I look for much better things —
from your ability and firmness. Whereupon I pray God, my
cousin, that He may have you in His safe and holy keeping.

Louis.

' See Prince Talleyrand's letter dated October 4.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 255

No. 6a. — The King's Ambassadors at the Congress to
THE Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, October 16, 1814.

Monsieur le Comte,

Since our last despatch of the 12th, no conference has been
held, and all the work of the congress reduces itself to a few steps
between the powers and to some insignificant intrigues, which
serve nevertheless to disclose the real state of minds here, the
excitement of some, the cupidity of others, the bewilderment
of all.

The great difficulties which oppose the progress of affairs
result from the idea conceived by the Emperor of Russia, who
will re-establish a sham Poland under Russian influence, and
aggrandize Prussia by Saxony. That prince, if one may dare to
say so, has not one sane idea in that respect, and confuses at
the same time principles of justice and the wildest conceptions.

Lord Castlereagh, on whom he called in order to insinuate
his projects with regard to Poland, combated them. He even
handed him a methodical memoir in which he presented the
question such as we conceived it ; the situation requires either
the re-establishment of ancient Poland, or that that source of
trouble and contentions be for ever withdrawn from the dis-
cussions of Europe.

Lord Castlereagh had his memoir read to Prince Talleyrand
and to Prince Metternich, and he seconds in that respect the
true interests of Europe. But, whilst combating exaggerated
views, he concludes nothing and appears even to avoid con-
cluding. With respect to the King of Saxony, whose fate is
not discussed, Lord Castlereagh continues to be ruled by the
falsest views, and the thought of what he termed the treason
of the King • of Saxony, would serve as an example to Ger-
many and to Europe, he interests himself very little in the
preservation of this dynasty, or of the country, and he aban-
dons all principle in that direction. The consequences that
this measure entails are too serious for France to be able to
consent to them, and we hope that Austria will in the end become
fully alive to what honour dictates, and to her own interest. We
have several data on this subject which cause us to believe that
our measures will be seconded by the cabinet at Vienna ; but
they will only be so, when the confidence of that cabinet in
the disposition of France shall be complete.

Austria is bound by the promise given to procure Prussia
a population of ten millions of inhabitants ; but nothing is

2S6 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

stipulated with regard to Saxony, and Austria desires to save
her.

Prince Metternich, though guided by a timid and uncertain
policy, nevertheless judges the opinion of his country, and the in-
terests of her monarchy well enough, to see that the states of
Austria, encircled by Prussia, Russia, and a Poland, entirely in
the hands of the latter, would be constantly menaced, and that
France alone could aid her in that difficult position. Bavaria
having offered her aid. Prince Metternich sounded Marshal
von Wreda ^ on the intention of his government to enter into a
military league with Austria and PVance, in order to prevent the
execution of the projects of Poland and Saxony. Marshal von
Wreda replied that his government intended to join them.

On the other hand. Prince Metternich preserves a defiant
attitude, not only with regard to the king's wish to effectually
second the policy of the preservation of Saxony, but also with
regard to the means to be put at his disposal. This has been
confirmed by the story of a gentleman attached to Prince Metter-
nich's staff, who, explaining himself to the Due de Dalberg,
said to him : " You appear to us like the dogs who growl cleverly,
but do not bite, and we shall not bite alone." The same individual
told him also, that if they could feel sure of the firmness of
France, the language of Austria would become stronger, and
Russia would not risk war. But she persists in her plans because
she does not admit the possibility of Austria and France
combining in an armed resistance against the projects sustained
by both Russia and Prussia at once. The Due Dalberg replied,
that the King of France would never sanction such a disregard
of public morality as that involved in the destruction of Saxony,
and that he had not been the last to order his plenipotentiaries,
to pronounce themselves in favour of what honour and the great
principles of public order dictated.

The Emperor of Russia has divulged no decision ; he is
trying to gain over the English and Austrian ministers before
pronouncing his last word.

It may happen that he will insist on the re-establishment of
Poland, after his own wishes, or, that in renouncing it, he will
put a higher price on his sacrifice than the other powers would
admit. Relations would then become strained, and we should
have to be ready for any event that might result from it.
Perhaps Austria will formulate the idea of a line, formed by the

^ Charles-Philippe, Prince von Wreda, born at Heidelberg in 1767; was in 1805
to 1813 at the head of the auxiliary Bavarian troops to France, and was appointed by
Napoleon Cointe of the Empire. He made a defection in 1813, but was crushed at
Hanau. After the campaign of France, he became field-marshal. He represented
Bavaria at the Vienna congress. He died in 1838.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 257

powers of the south against those of the north, and it would be
necessary to be prepared to reply to it.

We believe that the dignity of the king, the interests of
France, and the force of opinion, require that the king do not
refuse to concur in the defence of the grand principles which
-constitute order in Europe, and it would be well and useful he
should be willing to give the necessary authorizations for
forming, if matters became urgent, a military league with a view
to the projects of Russia and Prussia.

We think that even were Russia in a condition to take the
field, Prussia would not compromise herself, and the firmness of
France seconded by Austria really understanding her interest,
Tvould save Europe without distuj-bing the peace.

There is another consideration that determines us to advise
the king to refuse his sanction and to offer effectual aid to prevent
the destruction of the House of Saxony, and of the union of
that country with Prussia. That consideration is derived from
the revolutionary spirit that we observe in Germany, and that
bears a character quite special.

It is not the struggle of the third estate with the privileged
•classes which gives rise to fermentation in that country. It is the
pretensions and pride of a military, and formerly very inde-
pendent nobility, which prepared the field and the elements for
a revolution, would prefer to secure existence in a large state,
^nd not to belong to parcelled out countries and to sovereigns
whom she regards as her equals.

At the head of this party are found all the mediatised princes
and nobles ; their aim is to blend Germany into one single
monarchy, in order to play in it the part of a great aristocratic
■element. Prussia, who has very cleverly flattered all that party,
has attached it to herself by holding out to it the prospect of
sharing the old privileges which it enjoyed.

One can thus be persuaded that if Prussia succeeded in
annexing Saxony, and appropriating for herself isolated territories
•on one side and another, she would form, in a very few years, a
military monarchy veiy dangerous for her neighbours ; and
:nothing, in this supposition, would serve her better than a great
number of enthusiasts, who, under the pretext of seeking a
mother-country, would create one by the most fatal upheavals.

It is of the highest importance to prevent these projects and
to second Austria in order to be able to cope with them success-
fully. This determination on the king's part shall aid again to
sever the bonds that link Austria and Bavaria to the coalition,
and that consideration is very serious in the actual situation
■of France.

VOL. II. s

258 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

On the occasion of the inquiry that Prince Metternich made
to Marshal von Wr^da, if Bavaria should be disposed to ally
herself with France and Austria, the military situation of the
two parties was mooted, and it was acknowledged that the
military position of the powers of the south was greatly
superior to those of the north, and that an offensive operation,
made by the outlets of Franconia on the Elbe, would cut off the
Prussian armies from their troops on the Rhine, and from a great
portion of their resources.

Austria displayed anxiety concerning the Neapolitan armies
and the agitation of Italy, where she fears lest Bonaparte should
prepare an uprising.

Murat had proposed an alliance to Bavaria, who refused, but
if events should lead to war, it would be necessary to carry an
army corps in Sicily to engage the attention of Murat. Spain
being entrusted with that operation, the French contingent need
not be very large.

Austria has at present nearly three hundred thousand men
under arms, and, from sufficiently reliable data, these forces are
distributed as follows : —

80,000 men in Bohemia ; 90,000 in Moravia and Hungary ;
36,000 in Galicia ; 20,000 in Transylvania ; 30,000 in Austria ;
50,000 in Italy.

Russia may have as many troops. Here is the list of them :

50,000 men in Holstein ; 80,000 in Saxony: 150,000 in
Poland; Prussia 150,000 of which 50,000 on the lower Rhine,
amongst whom 15,000 Saxons, whose chief. General Thielmann,
has taken the side opposed to his former sovereigns and would
prove unfaithful — they should not rely on him.

What would seem to prove that the Czar of Russia does not
believe in terminating affairs this year, is, that he has delayed
the ratification of the treaty with Denmark and Sweden ^ — of
which he is to be the voucher, and that he has not given orders
to withdraw his army which occupies and ruins Holstein. The
King of Denmark has failed to obtain anything in that respect.

Be pleased to accept

No. 6. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King
Louis XVIII.

Vienna, Oct. 17th, 1814.

Sire,

I received the letter with which your Majesty has deigned

' The treaty of peace between Russia and Denmark, signed at Hanover,
February 8, 1814. Article 6 of this treaty decided that the Russian troops could not.
levy any contribution on Holstein.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 259

to honour me. I am happy to find that the line of conduct that
I have followed tallies with the intentions, that your Majesty
is good enough to express to me. I shall exert every effort
never to depart from them.

I have to acquaint your Majesty with the state of affairs
since my last letter.

Lord Castlereagh, wishing to bring a new effort to bear upon
the mind of the Czar Alexander, so as to induce him to relinquish
his ideas on Poland, which disturb and lead to upset every-
thing, had requested an audience from him. The Czar wished
to make a sort of mystery of it, and paid him the honour of
going to his house, and, knowing well what subject Lord Castle-
reagh wished to discuss, he himself entered upon the matter by
complaining of the opposition that he found to his views. He
did not, nor could not, understand how France and England
could be opposed to the restoration of a kingdom of Poland.
Such restoration, he said, would be an atonement for the breach
of public morality that the division had outraged — a sort of
expiation. In truth, to entirely restore Poland was not the
question, but nothing would prevent that being done one day, if
Europe desired it. For the present it would be premature : the
country itself had need of being prepared for it ; it could not be
so better than by the erection of a kingdom formed of a portion
only of Poland, to which could be given institutions of a nature
likely to promote the rise and progress of all the principles of
civilizations, that would spread through the entire nation when
once it had been deemed advisable to restore unity to it. The
execution of his plan was to involve sacrifices only for himself,
since the new kingdom would be formed, only of portions of
Poland over which a conquest gave him incontestable rights, and
to which he would moreover add those that he had acquired
previous to the last war, and since the division (Byalistock and
Tarnopol). No one could thus complain, of his wishing to make
those sacrifices ; he made them with pleasure, for conscience' sake,
to console an unhappy nation, to advance civilization ; he staked
his honour and reputation on it. Lord Castlereagh, who had all his
arguments ready, deduced them in a conversation that was very
long, but without persuading or convincing the Czar Alexander,
who retired, leaving Lord Castlereagh indeed very little satisfied
with his intentions ; but as he did not consider himself defeated,
he put his arguments into writing, and presented them the same
evening to the emperor, under the title of Memoranda. After
giving me, in a very long conversation, the preceding details,
Lord Castlereagh gave me this document to read, at which, by
the way. Prince Metternich, on hearing of it, testified a surprise

S 2

26o. THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

that he would not have shown, had there not been among the
ministers of the four courts a general determinaion not to com-
municate to the others what they were severally doing.

The fnemorandum commences by reproducing the articles of
the treaties concluded by the allies in 1813, which decided that :
Poland should remain divided between the three powers in propor-
tions that they shall amicably agree upon, without the interference
of France : (Lord Castlereagh hastened to tell me that this
referred to the France of 1 8 1 3, and not to the France of to-day).
It then reports, word for word, the discourses held, promises
made, and assurances given, by the Emperor Alexander at
different epochs, in different places, especially at Paris,
which are all in direct opposition to the policy that he is now
pursuing. This is succeeded by the enumeration of services
rendered by England to the Emperor Alexander.

To secure him the undisturbed possession of Finland, she
agreed to bring Norway under the dominion of Sweden ; ^ by so
doing, making a sacrifice of her own wishes, perhaps even of her
interests as well.

By her mediation, she had obtained for him concessions from
the Ottoman Porte and other advantages ; ^ and from Persia,
the cession of a considerable portion of territory.^ She believes
herself therefore to have the right to speak to the Czar Alex-
ander with more frankness than the other powers, who do not
happen to have rendered her the same services.

Passing thence to the examination of the actual policy
of the emperor. Lord Castlereagh declared that the entire re-
establishment of Poland as a completely independent state
would obtain the assent of everybody ; but that to create a
kingdom out of a quarter of Poland, would be but to create
regrets for the three other quarters, and just cause for anxiety
for those who might be possessed of any portion of it whatever,
and who, from the moment that there existed a kingdom of
Poland, could no longer count for a single moment on the
fidelity of their subjects ; that thus, instead of a focus of civiliza-
tion, they would only have established one of insurrection and
trouble, whereas repose is the wish, as it is the need, of all.
While admitting that conquest has given certain rights to the

1 Norway, before 1814, belonged to Denmark. Now Denmark had, in 1813, an
alliance concluded with Napoleon, by which the latter was to give her certain subsi-
dies, whereas Sweden had taken the part of the allies, and had signed with England
a treaty (March 3, 1813). Sweden thereupon invaded Norway. The treaty of Aun^ust
14, 1814, suspended hostilities, and on the 4th of the following November, the
Norwegian Diet proclaimed the King of Sweden, King of Norway.

' Peace of Bucharest in 18 12, by which Turkey ceded to Russia Bessarabia and a
part of Moldavia, and recognized the Russian protectorate over Wallachia,

' Treaty of Peace between Russia and Persia (October 12, 1813).

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 261

emperor, it maintains that the limits of those rights is that line
that cannot be passed without trespassing on the security of
his neighbours. It conjures him by all he holds dear, by his
humanity, by his reputation, not to go beyond it, and concludes
by saying that it entreated him to weigh, as soon as possible, all
the reflections that had been submitted to him, and that should
he persist in his views, England regretted that she would not be
able to assent to them.

The Czar Alexander has not yet replied.

Lord Castlereagh's attitude is as good in the question of
Poland as it is bad in that of Saxony. He speaks of nothing
but treason ; of the necessity of an example. Principles do not
appear to be his forte. Count von Miinster, whose health is
improving, has tried to convince him that the equilibrium,
perhaps even the very existence, of Germany depended upon
the preservation of Saxony ; but all he succeeded in effecting
was to raise in him some doubts. However, he has promised,
not to pronounce himself of the same opinion as ourselves on
this question (he seems indeed to have, with regard to that,
engagements with the Prussians, that bind him), but at least to
offer no objections.

His attitude towards the Emperor Alexander has been
assumed, not only by the advice, but even at the request of
Prince Metternich. I should not have doubted it, had neither
the one nor the other told me of it. Austria foresees all the
consequences of Russia's projects, but, not during to come
forward herself, she has made England do so.

If the Czar Alexander persists, Austria, too interested to give
way, will not, I believe, give way, but her timidity will cause her
to protract things indefinitely. This power, however, has dangers
that become daily greater, that might become urgent, to which
I ought moreover so much the more call the attention of your
Majesty, that their cause might prolong itself far beyond the
present time, in such a manner, as even to demand all his
attention for the rest of his reign.

The seeds of revolution are sown broadcast in Germany.
Jacobinism predominates there, not, as in France twenty years
ago in the middle and lower classes, but amongst the highest and
richest of the nobility ; a difference sufficiently great to make it
impossible to estimate the progress of a revolution, should one
break out there, by that of our own. The men whom the dis-
solution of the German Empire, and the Act of the Confeder-
ation of the Rhine have reduced from the rank of petty
sovereigns to that of subjects, impatiently submitting to masters
whose equals they were, or believe themselves to have been.

262 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

aim at replacing an order of things, at which their pride revolts,
and overthrowing all the governments of that country in favour
of one alone. With these, university men and youth imbued
with their theories conspire, as well as those who attribute to the
division of Germany into small states, the calamities rained
upon her, by so many wars of which she has been the continual
scene. German unity — that is their cry, their doctrine, their
religion, carried even to fanaticism, and this fanaticism is shared
even by princes actually reigning. Now this unity, from which
France had nothing to fear when she possessed the left bank
of the Rhine, and Belgium, would now be a serious question for
her. Besides, who cculd predict the consequences of the
eventual outbreak of a mass like Germany, when her component
parts bestir and blend themselves as a whole .^ Who knows
where the impulse thus given would stop ? The present position
of Germany, of which a great part does not in the least know
who is to be her master, the military pursuits, the vexations
ordinarily attendant upon them, the fresh sacrifices demanded,
after so many previous sacrifices, the present wrongs, the un-
certainty of the future, all these favour a possible change in the
political condition. It is but too evident that if the congress
adjourns, if it decide nothing, it will aggravate this state of
things, and it is greatly to be feared, that in aggravating them,
the result will be an upheaval. The most urgent need would
therefore be that it accelerate and conclude its labours. But
how conclude ? By granting what Russia and Prussia demand ?
Neither the safety, nor the honour, of Europe permit it. By
opposing force to force .-" It would require for that, that Austria,
who has, I believe, the desire, should also have the will. She
has immense forces under arms ; but fears an uprising in Italy,
and dare not match herself alone against Russia and Prussia.
She can rely upon Bavaria, who declares her intentions quite
frankly, and has offered her fifty thousand men to defend
Saxony : Wurtemberg would furnish her ten thousand : other
German States would join her, but that does not sufficiently
reassure her. She would like to be able to count upon our aid,
and does not believe she can do so. The Prussians have spread
the report that your Majesty's ministers have received double
instructions, which prescribe for them, the one the language
that they are to adopt, in the other, that they are to promise
nothing. Prince Metternich has told Marshal von Wreda, that
this was his own impression. One of his most intimate
acquaintances said a few days ago to M. de Dalberg, " Your
legation speaks very cleverly, but you will not act, and we
shall not act alone."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 263

Your Majesty will easily believe that I like and desire war
no more than yourself. But in my opinion, it would suffice to
show our readiness for it, and there would be no need to wage
it. It is my opinion again, that the fear of war should not
prevail over that of a greater evil than the war could itself
prevent.

I cannot believe that Russia and Prussia would run the risk
of a war against Austria, France, Sardinia, Bavaria, and a large
portion of Germany ; or if she should do so, so much the more
unlikely is it that she would recede before Austria alone,
supposing, what is not the fact, that she would engage in the
struggle alone.

Austria thus deprived of our support, would have no other
resource than either to indefinitely prolong the congress, to
dissolve it, which would open up the way for revolutions, or, to
yield and consent to what your Majesty has resolved never to
sanction.

In that case, there would remain for your Majesty's ministers
nothing else than to retire from the congress, reconciling our-
selves to getting nothing of what you most desire. Nevertheless
the state of things which would thus be produced in Europe
would render war inevitable in a very few years, and we might
then find ourselves in a situation in which we should have less
means of waging it.

I believe it not only possible, but probable, that if the
response of the Czar Alexander should destroy all hope of
seeing him yield to persuasion, Prince de Metternich will ask me
if, and to what extent, Austria can count upon our co-operation.

The instructions which your Majesty has given state, that
the dominion of Russia over all Poland, would threaten Europe
with so great dangers, that, if it could not be removed, except
by force of arms, resort must be had to them without hesitation,
which, I think, may authorize me to promise in general terms,
and for this cause alone, the help of your Majesty's troops.

But in order to reply positively to a definite demand, and
and to promise determinate help, I need special authorization
and instructions. I take the liberty of begging your Majesty to
grant me them, and to be assured that I shall make use of them,
only in cases of manifest and extreme necessity. But I persist
in believing that the case I am presupposing, will not present

itself

In order, however, to be ready for any emergency, I ask
your Majesty to deign to honour me, as speedily as possible,
with your orders.

Since the declaration that I have had the honour of sending

264 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

to your Majesty, the ministers of the eight powers have not
met.

A committee composed of Austrian, Prussian, Bavarian,
Wurtembergese, and Hanoverian ministers are working at the
federal constitution of Gerrnany. They have already held a
conference. It is doubtful, considering the diversity of the
interests of those whom they represent, and of their individual
characters, whether they will arrive at an agreement.

I am, &c.

No. 7. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King
Louis XVIII.

Vienna, Oct. 19, 1814.

Sire,

Comte de Labrador, for having expressed the same opinion
as myself in the conferences to which we have both been sum-
moned, and perhaps also for having come rather frequently to my
house, where Lord Castlereagh found him once, was subjected
to the keenest reproaches by the ministers of the four courts.
They taunted him with having deserted them, with deserting
the men to whom Spain is indebted for the recovery of her
independence, and, what is most worthy of remark, it is Prince
Metternich who has displayed most violence in the matter. Not-
withstanding this Comte de Labrador had not altered his
opinion, but has thought it advisable to call on me less
frequent than he had formerly done. From this, can be
seen how far ministers, less independent by their position or
personal character are, or believe themselves, free to entertain
close relations with your Majesty's legation.

The five ministers, who met to examine the federal constitu-
tion, have been required to give their word of honour, that they
would abstain from communicating to any one whatsoever
the proposals that might be laid before them. It is especially
against the legation of France that this rather useless precaution
has been taken. Having failed to induce her to play in the
negotiations the part they had intended her to take, they now
seek to isolate her.

A ray of light has nevertheless pierced the darkness, with
which it is sought to surround her, and which it is intended to
thicken as time wears on. Perhaps we hold the thread that
is to guide us through the maze of intrigue in which it was, at
first, hoped we should lose our way. This is what we have
learned from a man whose position enables him to be well
informed.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 265

The four courts have not ceased to be allied, in this sense
that, the sentiments which animated them during the war have
outlived hostilities, and that they display, in the arrangements of
Europe, a spirit similar to that in which they fought. Their
intention was to proceed alone with these arrangements. But
they saw that the only means of imparting a certain character
of legitimacy to them was to have them invested with some
sanction or other. That is why the congress has been called
together. They would have liked to exclude France from
it, but could not do so after the fortunate change for the
better, that has taken place in our country, and from this point
of view that change has displeased them. At all events, they
had flattered themselves that France, being for a long time to
come solely engaged with her internal difficulties, would attend
the congress only for the sake of form. Seeing that she pre- j/
sented herself with principles that they could not oppose, and
were yet unwilling to follow, they have made up their mind
to put her aside de facto, without excluding her, and to con-
centrate all power in their own hands, in order to proceed
without hindrance in the execution of their plan. This plan
is, in the main, but that of England. It is she that is the
soul of everything. Her want of regard for principles is not
surprising : her interests constitute her principles. Her aim
is simple. She is anxious to preserve her naval superiority,
and, with that, the trade of the world. To effect this, she
wants the French navy never to become strong enough to
cause her any fear, either combined with others, or alone. She
has already taken care to isolate France from the other naval
powers, by the treaties she has imposed on them. The restoration
of the house of Bourbon having caused her to fear the renewal of
the " Family Compact,"^ she hastened to conclude with Spain the
treaty of July 5 th, whereby that power bound herself never to
renew that compact. She has still so to situate France, as a conti-
nental power, that she may be able to only devote a very small
portion of her forces to naval service. With this object in view,
she seeks to unite Austria and Prussia, rendering the latter as
strong as possible, and setting them both up as the rivals of France.
It is to carry out this plan that Lord Stewart was appointed
ambassador to Vienna. His sympathies are entirely Prussian ;
that is the reason why he was chosen. Care will likewise be
taken to appoint in Berlin a man whose sympathies lean towards
Austria. Nothing would strengthen Prussia more than to give

^ The "Family Compact," a treaty concluded August, 1761, between France
and Spain, and by which all the branches of the House of Bourbon mutually agreed
to assist one another. — ( Translator.)

.266 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

her Saxony ; that is why England wishes that country to be
sacrificed, and given to Prussia. Lord Castlereagh and Mr.
Cook ^ are so determined on this point, that they are bold
enough to say that the sacrifice of Saxony without any abdica-
tion, without any cession on the part of her king, would not
offend principles. Austria would naturally have discarded such
a doctrine. Justice, propriety, her security even, everything urges
her to do so. How has her resistance been overcome ? Nothing
was easier. She has been confronted with two difficulties,
one of which she was helped to surmount, on the condition
that she would give way on the other. The Emperor of
Russia very opportunely expresses the desire to have the whole
duchy of Warsaw, and to form what can but be the shadow
of the kingdom of Poland. Lord Castlereagh is opposed to
this project, and is drawing up a memorandum that he will
produce before his parliament, in order to make his country-
men believe that he experienced so much trouble in arranging
the affairs of Poland, that he cannot be blamed for not having
saved Saxony, and, as the reward of his exertions, he urges
Austria to consent to the partition of that kingdom. Who
knows but that the desire of forming a sham kingdom of Poland
was not suggested to the Emperor Alexander by the very men
who are opposed to it, or who knows if this desire be sincere .'
Whether the emperor, in order to make himself agreeable to
the Poles, has not made them promises which he would be very
sorry to keep .■" Whether the resistance offered him is not
what he most wishes, and whether he would not be very much
puzzled if people assented to what seems to be his wish 1 Be
this as it may, Prince Metternich, who prides himself on
giving the impulse to everything, in this case, himself receives
the impulse, and, without being aware of it, is the sport of
the intrigues he thinks he is plotting, and is being deceived
like a child.

Although I cannot vouch for the exact truth of the fore-
going particulars, I must say that they do not seem to me at all
improbable.

A few days ago, certain persons, whom Prince Metternich
is in the habit of consulting, were summoned by him. They
all were of the opinion that Saxony should not be abandoned.
Nothing was concluded, and the evening before last, I learned

^ Edward Cook, or Cooke, an English statesman, was at first chief clerk of the
Irish House of Commons, then secretary of the War OfSce in that country, and member
of Parliament. He promoted, by his writings, the union of the English and Irish
Parliaments, was afterwards appointed Home and Foreign Secretary of State by Lord
Castlereagh, whom he accompanied to the Congress of Vienna as plenipotentiary.
He retired from public life in 1817, and died in 1820.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 267

from a reliable source that Prince Metternich, personally, had
abandoned Saxony, but that the Austrian Emperor was still
hesitating.

One of the commissioners for the drawing up of the federal
constitution said that the propositions made to them were made
on the supposition that Saxony no longer existed.

Yesterday was entirely devoted to two fi§tes : one of which
was a military one, commemorative of the battle of Leipzig :
the legation of your Majesty could not attend it; I was
present at the other, which was given by Prince Metternich, in
honour of the peace. I was anxious to find an opportunity of
saying a word to the Emperor of Austria. I was not fortunate
enough to do so. (I had been more fortunate at the preceding
ball, when I had been able to say a few words to him on the
questions at issue, calculated to produce some effect on his mind ;
he seemed to me then to quite share the views I expressed.
Lord Castlereagh talked with him for nearly twenty minutes,
and I have been told that Saxony was the subject of the
conversation.

The arrangement that would give this country to Prussia,
would be considered in Austria, even by the members of the
cabinet, as a misfortune for the Austrian monarchy, and in
Germany, as a calamity. It would there be looked upon as an
infallible indication that, sooner or later, Germany was doomed
to be divided as Poland was.

The King of Bavaria again yesterday, ordered his minister
to take new steps in favour of Saxony, and said to him : " That
project is most unjust, and quite upsets me."

If Austria wishes to preserve Saxony for herself, it is probable
that she will, at any rate, secure our co-operation, and, in order
to be in a position to give an affirmative reply to any request of
that nature, I have begged your Majesty to honour me with
your orders. At the same time, as I have had the honour of
informing your Majesty, I hold it for certain that Russia and
Prussia will not open hostilities.

Should Austria7ield without having asked for our support, it
would be because she had decided to dispense with it. She would
thus take from your Majesty all hope of saving Saxony, but
she could not deprive you of the glory of defending the principles
that constitute the security of every throne.
/- Besides, so long as Austria has not definitely yielded, I will
not despair, and I even believe I have found a means which,
though it may not prevent the sacrifice of Saxony, will, at least,
perplex those who wish for it : it is to inform the Emperor of
Russia that we do not object to his possessing, under any

268 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

denomination ^ whatever, the portion of Poland that may fall to
his share, that, if it does not extend his frontiers in such a way
as to disturb his neighbours, provided, at the same time, Saxony-
be preserved as an independent kingdom.

If the emperor has no real wish to make a kingdom of
Poland, and merely seeks for an excuse to give to the Poles,
this declaration of ours will cross his projects. He will not be
able to tell the Poles, nor will they believe, that France is
opposed to the accomplishment of their dearest wishes. In
his turn, Lord Castlereagh will be puzzled to explain to parlia-
ment how he could have objected to what was desired by many-
people in England, when France did not object to it.

If, on the other hand, the Emperor Alexander really holds
to the idea of this kingdom of Poland, the consent of France
would be one more reason for him to persist in it; Austria,
being thus again confronted by the difficulty from which she
had thought to have extricated herself by abandoning Saxony,
will be forced to reconsider her decision, and be brought over
to us.

In no case can this declaration do us harm. What is im-
portant to us is, that Russia have as small a portion of Poland
as possible, and that Saxony be saved. It is of less import-
ance to us, or rather it is of no importance at all, whether
Russia gain possession in one way or another of that which ought
to be hers, and which she ought to possess. That is a matter that
concerns Austria alone. Therefore when she sacrifices un-
necessarily what she knows to be of interest to us, and that in
which she ought to feel far more interest herself, why should we
hesitate to replace her in the situation from which she sought to
extricate herself, especially when it depends upon her to settle at
once both her difficulties and our own ; and when for that she
need only to march hand in hand with us.

I am informed that within the last few days, the Emperor
Alexander repeatedly expressed the intention of sending for
me. If he does so, I shall try the plan I have just had the
honour of submitting to your Majesty.

General Pozzo, who has been here for some days, speaks of
France in a most becoming manner.

The Elector of Hanover, who can no longer bear that title,
since there no longer is a German Empire, or an emperor elect,
and being unwilling to rank below the sovereign of Wurtem-
berg, over whom he formerly took precedence, has just assumed
the title of king. Count von Miinster (who has nearly recovered

1 Text !...," sous quelque denomination " (under any denomination whatever. \
Var. ; " sous quelque domination " (under any rvU whatever).

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 269

from the effects of his fall) has notified this decision of his
sovereign.

Before replying to him and recognizing the new title assumed
by his master, I await the authorization which your Majesty will
no doubt think advisable to give me.

I have the honour to be

No. 7A. — The King's Ambassadors at the Congress
TO THE Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, October 20, 1814.

Monsieur le Comte,

In one of our preceding despatches we had the honour
of informing you that the four allied powers, conformably
to their arrangements, continue to follow a system of con-
venience, agreed upon for the case in which Bonaparte should
have remained on the throne of France; that they ignore
the re-establishment of the House of Bourbon, which changes
the state of Europe, and which should have necessitated
the restoration of the system existing in 1792. But as the
might of France still alarms them, it is with a singular blind-
ness that Prince Metternich continues to second the projects
of the three powers ; that he facilitates for Russia the means
fo taking possession of the duchy of Warsaw, for Prussia, the
occupation of Saxony, and for England, the exercise of the most
absolute influence over what was and may still be called,
the coalition. This state of things produces a very strange effect ;
all the friends of the Austrian monarchy are favourably disposed
towards us ; on the other hand, the friends of the ministry,
assume a hostile attitude.

There has been no other conference after that of which we
have had the honour of informing you. The ministers of the
four powers meet together, talk, project, change, and nothing is
finished. Nevertheless the moment of decision approaches.
We are strictly informed of all the minor political movements,
though they have given their word of honour to each other to
inform us of none of their intentions.

The policy of the powers arises from the consternation in
which they still are. They wish to execute the engagement
made on the 13th of June, 18 13, and to finish the affairs of
Poland, without France interfering. Their aim is finally to isolate
France, and they repent of the peace which they have signed. ^

The effects of the English policy are to be seen everywhere.
Again alarmed at the effect that the continental policy has
produced on England, the English ministers wish, that in the

370 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

north, and on the Baltic, there should be powers strong enough
to prevent France from being able at any time to fetter the com-
merce of England with the interior of the Continent. Owing
to such a method of reasoning, they lend themselves to all that
Prussia demands, and support her pretensions with all their
power.

This combination resulted in the aggrandizement of Holland
by the lower countries, as well as in that of Hanover and of
Prussia. It is in the same spirit that England has exacted that
Spain should never renew the stipulations of the " Family
Compact." She fears lest the king should, by means of alliances
add fresh power to that already possessed by France. This
negotiation was the object of the hurried journey of Lord
Wellington from Paris to Madrid.

Lord Castlereagh further proves by this same policy that
he knows how to judge, neither the situation of the Continent,
nor that of France ; and that he does not see that they have
both been the victims of this policy, and would fear it more than
England herself.

In this state of things, situated between passions on the one
side, and the ambition of the powers on the other, the king's
ministers have to sustain with the greatest firmness the principles
which preserve the rights of peoples, and not to stoop to any
complaisancy which may overthrow these principles, to oppose to
this act of violence all the dignity and calmness possible, and
then await until reason and time enlighten the different powers
as to their real interests.

At a ball given yesterday by Prince Metternich, Count
von Schulenburg went up to Marshal von Wreda, and asked
him what he could tell him regarding Saxony. He replied :
" Go up to the head of the House, and see if he dares raise his
eyes to you."

At that same ball, the King of Bavaria asked Count de
Labrador if he ever saw Prince Talleyrand.

The Spanish minister said " Yes."

" I should like to see him, too," said the King, " but I dare
not. At least, 1 give you my word of honour that I am a
devoted adherent of the House of Bourbon."

We wait until these feelings shall be notified officially to us
to explain ourselves ; and we shall, while waiting, lose no
opportunity of repeating, that this disregard of all moderation
prolongs the revolution, and must necessarily lead to fresh
agitations. Time will enlighten us on the last determinations
that we shall have to take.

The king must now be convinced, that the policy he has

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 27 t.

adopted, which he has outlined in his instructions, and from
which we swerve in nothing, assures him the consideration and
the gratitude of all those who are not blinded by passions and
a most fatal delusion.

Be pleased to accept ....

King Louis XVIII. to the Prince de Talleyrand.

Paris, October 21, 1814.

My Cousin,

I have received your report numbered 4 and 5.

The most certain proof that that of October 1st was good
is, that it displeased the plenipotentiaries of the allied courts
formerly, and that it has at the same time compelled them in
some measure to retrace their steps ; but we shall not go to
sleep on this success. The existence of the league you spoke
of in your No. 4, has been unveiled to me, as well as the deter-
mination to revenge on France the humiliations to which the
Directory, and far more, Bonaparte, have subjected Europe. I
will never be reduced to such a point as that ; therefore I
strongly favour the idea of the declaration, and wish you to send
me a draft of it at your earliest convenience. But this is not
all ; you must prove the existence oi purposes behind those which
tliey reveal, and, for this, it seems to me to be necessary to make
preparations for putting the army, at need, on a footing of greater
efificiency than it is at present.

I will certainly get M. de Jaucourt to write the letter you
require ; but, between ourselves, I would go beyond the stipula-
tions of April II,'' if the excellent idea of the Azores were put
into execution.

I shall be quite satisfied if they give Parma, Piacenza,,
and Guastalla to the young prince.^ It is his patrimony.
Tuscany was a territory that was hardly acquired justly.

The unfortunate Gustavus IV.^ has announced his intention
of coming here in a few days. If it is spoken of in Vienna, you
might boldly assert that this journey conceals no political

^ The treaty of April 1 1, which determines the destination of Napoleon, and certain
members of his family.

2 The young King of Etruria, son of the old Due of Parma, of which he was dis-
possessed in 1801, as he was of Tuscany, in 1807.

' Gustavus IV., King of Sweden, son of Gustavus III., bom in 1778, succeeded
his father in 1 792, under the tutelage of his uncle, the Duke de Sudermania. Conquered
by Russia and France, having made his nobles and people discontented, he excited a
revolution and abdicated in 1809, The Diet sent him into perpetual exile, and pro-
claimed the Duke of Sudermania king, under the title of Charles XVII. As to
King Gustavus, he lived henceforth in foreign lands under the title of Colonel Gus-
tavson, and died in 1837.

272 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

stipulation, but that my door shall never be closed to him who
always opened his to me.

I shall not finish this letter without expressing to you my
satisfaction at your conduct ; whereupon I pray God, my cousin,
that He may always have you in His safe and holy keeping.

Louis.

No. I. — The Comte de Blacas d'Aulps to the Prince
DE Talleyrand.

Paris, October 21, 1814.

M. de Jaucourt doubtless informs your Highness of the
arrival of Mina ^ at Paris, of his arrest, of the quite inconceiv-
able conduct of the chargd ctaffaires in Spain,^ or to express
it better, of him who takes that title, and of the measure that
has been adopted in that direction.

For the rest, I have nothing new or special to enjoin upon you
to-day ; but I would not close this letter without remembering
myself to you and repeating the most sincere assurances of my
most sincere attachment.

Blacas.

No. 8a. — The King's Ambassadors at the Congress to
THE Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, October 24, 1814.

Monsieur le Comte,

Prospects have not improved. Since our last despatch all
is intrigue, mystery, and incoherence, in the general policy.

The Emperor of Russia persists in occupying the grand
duchy of Warsaw. He will only give up a few portions of it,
and pretends to be regenerating Poland in it.

Prussia persists in retrieving her losses by the incorporation
of Saxony. The Emperor of Russia announces that he has
consented to it. He declares that he has entered into a
personal engagement with the King of Prussia about it.

Austria offers but a weak resistance ; she proceeds cautiouslj^,
seeking to gain time to strengthen herself against the bad im-
pression that this act of injustice is producing on men's minds.

* A celebrated partisan chief during the war of independence in Spain, who,
after the restoration of Ferdinand VII., had been obliged to flee from Spain and
take refuge in Paris.

^ The Marquis de Casa Flores, who on his own authority alone, had had Mina
arrested and kept him imprisoned at his residence. The French government obliged
the marquis to set his prisoner at liberty, and ordered Casa Flores to quit
Paris immediately.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 273

She does not yet make overtures to us, and believes the question
lost, though always wishing to connect it to the discussion
which must yet take place on the delimitation of boundaries
in Poland.

The only good faith England has shown is in seeking to
obtain for Prussia all that this power demands. Prussia is to
become the guarantee for all English relations with Germany
which tend towards an intimate union between Austria and
Prussia ; England would add to these Hanover and Holland.

The 1st of November is drawing near, and nothing will
Tiave been decided. No conference has taken place. People
wonder whether the congress will be opened at all, or whether
if it is not yet in existence, Europe will know the causes which
have delayed it. Several ministers are of opinion that it would
be preferable to dissolve it for the time being, and then to
summon it again when greater readiness shall be shown to shed
light upon the true needs of Europe.

Prince Metternich has replied to the note of the Prussian
ministers demanding Saxony, to make up the ten millions of
population which composed the Prussian monarchy of 1805.
This reply decides nothing, and agrees to nothing. It rather
discusses, and leads to the idea that the question of Saxony
cannot be treated in an isolated fashion, and must be annexed
to the arrangements to be made for the new limits of Poland.

In this state of things, Prussia will temporarily occupy
Saxony with her armies, and this permission on the part of the
Court of Vienna, is already very annoying. It leaves Russia the
opportunity of doing as she likes in the duchy of Warsaw,
and furnishes Prussia with means for strengthening her position
in Saxony.

It will be seen that the calculations made as to the character
of the Emperor of Russia, and the King of Prussia, are at fault ;
and we fear that false ideas of glory and cameraderie, if one may
thus express oneself, will render them deaf to all representations ;
that England will applaud them, because she finds these projects
in accordance with her own interests, and Austria be unwilling
to run the risks of another war.

Prince Metternich, in order to cloak his shame a little, makes
a great deal of the advantage gained in the Russian armies
leaving Germany ; and does not see that they are concentrating
themselves at a short distance from the Oder, and that sixteen
thousand men are still in Holstein. Lord Castlereagh, on his
side, is only alarmed by the idea of not seeing his projects exe-
cuted to such an extent as he had hoped. His only desire, is to
try and moderate the pretensions which the Emperor of Russia
VOL. II. T

274 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

has on the duchy of Warsaw ; but he protests that the good
faith he is compelled to put into his communications with
Prussia, does not allow him to oppose her keeping Saxony .for
her own aggrandisement.

We are therefore persuaded that the religion professed by the
King of Saxony and his family ^ influences the arrangements of
England, and that she is only too glad to see this country fall
back into the hands of Protestant princes. This observation is
confirmed by the habitual language of the English embassy.

Prince Talleyrand had an interview with the Emperor of
Russia yesterday, which has produced no satisfactory result,
and which has confirmed the fears that we had that this prince
is running blindly into principles of expediency and ambition,
such as must needs alarm Europe. Before his departure for
Hungary, where he was to stay four days, he had a conversation
with the Prince Metternich, in which he expressed his views
in the most unbecoming manner.

One is sometimes asked, what means are at our disposal for
opposing the disorder which is threatening us anew, since Eng-
land and Austria will not second our efforts .-' Lord Castlereagh
admits now that he had thought himself stronger in his relations
with the Emperor of Russia, that he regretted not having opposed
all Europe to him, united, as had been proposed at Paris, and that
this means might yet be tried. If it proved barren of result, as
we ourselves think, it will still be easy for the king to sanction
nothing; and this will be the last step to be taken, if no other
means present itself of modifying this state of affairs.

The conferences for the arrangement of German affairs con-
tinue. There has been a contest between the King of Wurtem-
berg, and the new King of Hanover, for precedence ; and the
question as to who will be head of the new Germanic league,
has not yet been decided.

The court of Vienna might not be opposed to the idea of its
sovereign reassuming the German imperial dignity, provided it
were agreed that that dignity should be made hereditary to the
throne of Austria. England would apparently second the idea,
and Prince Metternich seeks here perhaps a means of gaining
consideration for his policy, and covering its weakness. In
doing so, he follows the mistakes of Count von Cobenzl, who,
when his sovereign abandoned the title of Emperor of Germany,
consoled him and his country, by stipulating that it be replaced
by that of Emperor of Austria.

In one of the conferences the Prussian ministers proposed

^ The younger branch of the house of Saxony, that is the royal branch, wa5
Catholic.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 275

and carried that, for the security of the German league, the
confederate states should forego the right of legation and of
making war and peace. The Bavarian ministers are sternly
opposed to this policy, which reduces the states to the position
of simple vassals of Prussia.
Be pleased to accept ....

No. 8. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King Louis

XVIII.

Vienna, October 11, 1814.

Sire,

I was much pleased to receive the letter dated October
14, with which your Majesty deigned to honour me. It has
strengthened and consoled me. Your Majesty will see by the
account of an interview with the Emperor Alexander, held two
hours before the arrival of the messenger, how much I stood in
need of it

I had, as I have had the honour of informing your Majesty,
already heard that he had on more than one occasion expressed
an intention of seeing me ; and this intimation, coming, as it did,
from three members of his more confidential circle, was ac-
credited by me as being his own command ; while I understood
at the same time that he desired me to prefer a request for an
interview myself He had not yet replied to Lord Castlereagh.
Instead of that, he had expressed to Austria his intention of
withdrawing his troops from Saxony, and handing over the
administration of this country to Prussia. The rumour ran that
Austria had consented to this, albeit with regret. (The Prussians
themselves had given credit to the rumour.) Finally, the
Emperor Alexander was on the point of setting out for
Hungary. For all these reasons I had determined to ask an
audience, and had received notice that he would see me the
day before yesterday at 6 P.M.

Four days ago. Prince Adam Czartoryski, on whose account
the attention of all Europe is just now fixed on Poland, came to
visit me, and excusing himself for not having come sooner,
declared that what had kept him away more than anything else,
was that he had heard that I took such a very unfriendly
attitude on the Polish question.

" Why, we are more friendly than any one else," I replied ;
« we wish her united and independent."

" That would be very fine," he answered, " but it is a chimera ;
the great powers would never consent to it.''

" Then again," I said, " Poland is no longer the subject of

T 2

276 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

greatest interest to us in the north. The preservation of
Saxony is of far more importance to us. We consider this
question as being paramount to us, while we only hold as being
subsidiary that of Poland, when it becomes a mere question of
boundaries. It is for Austria and Prussia to fix their frontiers.^
We wish them to be satisfied on this point ; but, once set at ease
as to your neighbours, we shall put no obstacle in the way of the
Emperor of Russia's giving what form of government he pleases
to the country handed over to him. For our compliance in
this respect, I ask for the preservation of the kingdom of
Saxony."

This insinuation on my part, pleased Prince Adam sufficiently
well, to make him seek, immediately on leaving me, an interview
with the emperor, with whom he was closeted three hours.
The result was that Comte de Nesselrode, whom I had not
seen at my rooms since the first moments of my arrival, came
here on the morrow evening for some explanations which I gave
him, without at the same time going beyond what I had already
told Prince Adam, but directing all my efforts to convincing him
that the preservation of the kingdom of Saxony was a point
from which it was impossible for your Majesty to withdraw.

The emperor, thus knowing beforehand in what he could,
and in what he could not, expect me to meet him, I reaped this
advantage, that on his first approach I could tell his intentions,
and judge whether his end in the conversation granted me, were
to propose means of conciliation, or to further express his
wishes.

He showed some embarrassment on his arrival. I expressed
my regret at having only seen him once.

" To accustom myself to a privation of this nature," I told
him, " was not what I desired, when I had the good fortune to
be in the same part of the world as himself"

His reply was that he would always be pleased to see me,
that it was my fault if I had not seen him since ; why had I not
come .' adding this singular phrase : " I am a public character,
and can always be seen ; " whereas I must tell you that his
ministers and most intimate dependants are sometimes com-
pelled to wait several days before they can see him. Then " Let
us to business," said he.

^ Text; "nous ne somnies qu'en seconde sur celle de la Pologne, quand elle
devient une question de limites. C'est a I'Autriche et a la Prusse i assurer
leurs fronlieres" — (as translated in the text). Var. : "nous ne sommes qu'en
seconde sur celle de la Pologne. Quand elle devient une question de limites, c'est
a I'Autriche et a la Prusse a assurer leurs fronticres." " We consider that of Poland
as being subsidiary. When it becomes a question of boundaries, it is for Austria and
Prussia to fix their own frontiers. "

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 277

I will no longer weary your Majesty with the tedious
details of a conversation which lasted an hour and a half;
and what will still more deprive me of any fear in limiting
myself to what is essential, is that, however careful I may be
in abridging what I have to tell you, as having come from
the emperor's own mouth, your Majesty will yet perhaps find
it beyond all credence.

" At Paris," said he, " you were for a kingdom of Poland.
How comes it that you have changed your opinion ? "

" My opinion, sire, is still the same. At Paris, it was a
question of the re-establishment of the whole of Poland. I
wished then, as I do to-day, her independence. But we have
a different matter in hand now. The question is limited to the
fixing of such boundaries as may put Austria and Prussia in
security."

" They need not be anxious. Besides, I have two hundred
thou sand men in the duchy of Warsaw. Let them drive me
out if they can ! I have given Saxony to Prussia ; and Austria
consents."

" I do not know that," said I. " I should find it difficult
to believe, it is so decidedly against her own interests. But
can the consent of Austria give to Prussia what belongs to
the King of Saxony .' "

" If the King of Saxony refuses to abdicate, he shall be
led to Russia ; where he will die. One king has already died
there." 1

" Your Majesty must permit me to disbelieve it. The
congress has not assembled to witness such an outrage."

"How outrage.' Why.' Did not Stanislas go to Russia.'
Why should not the King of Saxony go ? The case of both is
the same. There is no difference in my opinion."

Words failed me. I declare to your Majesty that I knew
not how to restrain my indignation.

The emperor continued to speak very fast ; one of his
sentences was : " I thought France considered herself indebted
to me. You are always speaking to me of principles. Your
public law is nothing to me : I don't understand all that. What
do you think are all your parchments and treaties to me .' " (I
had reminded him of the treaty by which the allies had agreed
that the duchy of Warsaw should be shared by the three courts.)
There is one thing which in my eyes outweighs everything else
my word of honour. I have given it, and I will keep it I

1 Stanislas II., Poniatowski, the last King of Poland. He abdicated in the year
1795, retired to Grodno, where he lived ona pension served t>y the co-dividing powers,
-and died two years afterwards at St. Petersburgh.

278 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

promised Saxony to the King of Prussia when we rejoined each
other."

" Your Majesty has promised to the King of Prussia from
nine to ten million souls ; and can give them without destroying
Saxony." (I had a list of the countries which could be given
to Prussia, and which, without overthrowing Saxony, would
give her the number of subjects that the treaties had guaranteed.
The emperor took it and kept it.)

" The King of Saxony is a traitor."

" Sire, the term traitor can never be applied to a king ; and
it is of the greatest importance that it never should be."

I put perhaps a little heat into the last phrase. After a
moment's silence,

" The King of Prussia," says he, " shall be King of Prussia
and Saxony, just as I shall be Emperor of Russia and King of
Poland. The spirit in which I shall consider all questions that
may interest France, will depend upon that which she now shows
me on these two points."

In the course of this conversationj the emperor had not, as in
the first that I had had with him, moments of generosity and
nobler feelings ; he was imperious, and showed traces of great
irritation.

After having said that he would see me again, he repaired
to the private court ball, whither I followed him, having had the
honour to be invited. I found Lord Castlereagh there, and
began to chat with him, when the Emperor Alexander perceived
us in the recess of a window and beckoned to him. He led him
to another room, and spoke with him about twenty minutes.
Lord Castlereagh then returned to me. He told me that he was
very little satisfied with what he had just heard.

Lord Castlereagh, I cannot doubt, either formed for himself, or
received from his government, the order to follow the plan which
I had the honour of laying before your Majesty in my letter of
the 19th inst. It consists in isolating France, in reducing her to
her own strength alone by depriving her of all alliance, and by
hindering her from getting a powerful navy. Thus, while your
Majesty only brings to the congress views of justice and
friendliness, England brings nothing but a spirit of jealousy and
entirely personal interest. But Lord Castlereagh finds in the
execution of his plan, difficulties that he had not foreseen.
Wishing to avoid the reproach of having left Europe a prey to
Russia, he would like to detach certain powers from the latter,
and at the same time put them in opposition with France.
While what he would like more than all, would be that Prussia
should become, like Holland, a power, which, with subsidies,

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 279

England could dispose of as she pleased. But as, to accomplish
this, Prussia must be strong, he would wish to aggrandize her,
and have, in her eyes the merit of doing so, all to himself.
But the ardour that the Emperor Alexander brings to the
interests of Prussia forbids this. Lord Castlereagh's aim is to
unite, if possible, Prussia to Austria, and the kind of aggrandise-
ment that he wishes to procure for Prussia, is of itself an
obstacle to this union. He would break the bonds which exist
between the King of Prussia and the Emperor Alexander, and
seeks to form others repelled by customs, tradition, and a
rivalry, suspended indeed, but not yet extinct, and which a
crowd of personal interests must infallibly re-ignite. Besides,
before uniting Prussia and Austria, he would have to protect
the interests of this last monarchy and provide for its safety,
a matter obstructed, as Lord Castlereagh finds, by the preten-
sions of Russia.

Thus the problem which he has set himself, and which I
hope he may never succeed in solving to the damage of France,
at least to such an extent as he seems to wish, presents
difficulties sufficient to stay a mightier genius than his. He him-
self sees no obstacles save those that arise from the Emperor
Alexander, for he does not hesitate to sacrifice Saxony.

I therefore told Lord Castlereagh that the dilemma in which
he found himself was the direct consequence of his conduct, and
of that of Prince Metternich ; that they had only themselves to
thank for making the Emperor of Russia what he was ; that if
from the beginning, instead of rejecting my proposal to convene
the congress, they had supported it, nothing of all this would
have happened ; that they had wished to match themselves
alone against Russia and Prussia, and they had found them-
selves too weak : whereas, if the Emperor of Russia had from the
first day been brought face to face with the congress, that is to
say, with the express wish of all Europe, he would never have
dared to hold the language that he holds to-day. Lord Castle-
reagh admitted the truth of what I said, regretted that the
congress had not been called together sooner, and, expressing a
wish that it should meet as soon as possible, proposed to me to
draw up with him a formal summons, such as could not possibly
give cause for any objection, and should defer any difficulties
which might arise, to be settled by the great powers.

Herr von Zeugwitz, a Saxon officer, who has just come from
London, and who before his departure has had an interview
with the Prince Regent, reports that the prince spoke to him
with expressions of the liveliest interest, of the King of Saxony,
and said that he had ordered his ministers at the congress to

28o THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

defend conservative principles, and not to. depart from them at
all. The Prince Regent had held the same language to the
Duke Leopold of Saxe-Coburg,^ who told it to me himself two
days ago. This leads me to think that the attitude here assumed
by the English mission, is diametrically opposed to the wishes
and personal views of the Prince Regent.

Austria has not yet consented as the Emperor of Russia
affirmed, to Saxony being handed over to Prussia. She has
said on the contrary that the question of Saxony was essentially
subordinate to that of Poland, and that she could not reply to
the former until the latter were settled. But although she has
spoken in her report of the cession of Saxony as infinitely
painful and odious in all respects, she has yet allowed to appear
too prominently a disposition to yield on this point if she were
first satisfied on the other.

It is even asserted that the Emperor of Austria told his
brother-in-law. Prince Anthony (of Saxony), that the cause of
Saxony was lost. What is certain is, that Austria consents to
Saxony being occupied by Prussian troops, and governed in the
interests of the King of Prussia.

Meanwhile public opinion declares itself more and more
each day in favour of the cause of the King of Saxony, and of
those who defend it. It is, I think, to this that I owe the
flattering reception which the archdukes and the Empress of
Austria herself were so good as to give me three days ago at a
ball at Count Zichy's,^ and the day before yesterday at the
court ball.

The Emperor of Austria started yesterday morning for Ofen,^
preceding the Emperor of Russia, who started in the evening.
He is going to weep over the tomb of his sister, the grand-
duchess, who had been married to the archduke palatine ;
after which the ball and fetes prepared for him will engross his
whole attention. He expects to return to Vienna on the 29th.

As, on his departure, he left neither authority nor instructions
with any one, nothing can be discussed, and nothing of any
importance can well take place in his absence.

I saw Prince Metternich this evening, who is gradually re-
gaining a little courage, and spoke to him in the strongest terms.
The Austrian generals, many of whom I have seen, declare for
the preservation of Saxony. They bring forward on the

' The future ICing of the Belgians. It is known that in 1816 he married the
Princess Charlotte, granddaughter of King George III.

^ Count Zichy de Vasonykio, of an old and eminent family of Hungary. Born
in 1753, he was president of the Aulic Court of Hungary (1788) and became later
Minister of War (1803). He died in 1826.

' German name of Buda-Pesth.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 281:

subject certain military arguments, which are beginning to make
an impression.

I have the honour to be, Sire, ....

No. 4B. — King Louis XVIII. to the Prince de
Talleyrand.

Paris, October 27, 1814.

My Cousin,

I have received your despatch, (No. 6), and hastened as
much as possible to forward you by the messenger who left here
on Tuesday, the additional instructions you asked for. I hope
your measures may be sufficient, but, as I informed you (No. 3 B),,
you must let them see that there is something else behind, and I
am going to give orders for the army to be held in readiness
to take the field. God is my witness that, far from wishing for
war, my desire is to have some years quiet, in order to dress
the wounds of the State ; but I must, before everything, preserve
intact the honour of France, and prevent principles, and an
order of things as contrary to morality as prejudicial to
tranquillity, from being established. Also (and this is not less
necessary), I wish that my personal character be respected, and
cannot allow it to be said, as was the case with the affair of the
Spanish charg^ d'affaires, that I am firm only when pitted
against the weak. My life, my crown itself, are nothing to me
beside interests so great as these.

It would nevertheless be very painful for me to be forced
to ally myself for these reasons with Austria, and Austria only.
I cannot understand how Lord Castlereagh, who expressed such
correct opinions on Poland, can be of a different opinion with
regard to Saxony. I should very much rely on the efforts
of Count von Miinster to bring him back, had not the
language of the Duke of Wellington on this same subject given
me cause to fear that this was not the policy of the minister but
of the ministry. There is certainly no lack of arguments with
which to refute him, but examples sometimes carry more
weight, and I can conceive a very striking one in the case of
Charles XII. The execution of PatkuP proves sufficiently, how
vindictive this prince was, and how little he cared for the law
of nations ; and yet master, as one may say, of all the states.

^ Patkul (1660-1707) was a Livonian gentleman. Livonia was at that time subject
to Sweden. Patkul tried on several occasions to join his country to Russia, and
excited several revolts against the Swedes. Peter the Great sent him as ambassador
to Augustus III. King of Poland, who in order to get on good terms with Charles XII.
handed him over to this prince. Patkul was immediately brought before a court-
martial, which condemned him to be drawn and quartered.

2S2 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

of King Augustus, he contente4 himself with robbing him of
Poland, not feeling justified in touching Saxony.

It seems to me that in comparing the two circumstances,
viz., that of the duchy of Warsaw with that of the kingdom
of Poland, and that of Saxony with herself on a former occasion,
the analogy is sufficiently plain. Whereupon, my cousin, I pray
God may have you in His safe and holy keeping.

Louis.

P.S. Your No. 7 just received. It confirms me in my
resolution to take up a warlike position to enforce respect.

I approve of the declaration you are about to make the
Emperor of Russia, and could wish that your conference had
already taken place. I authorise you to recognize in my name
the King of Great Britain as King of Hanover.

No. 9A. — The Ambassadors of the King at the Congress
TO the Ministers of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, October 31, 18 14.

Monsieur le Comte,

The date fixed for the opening of the congress was
approaching, and yet it was only this evening that Prince
Metternich has thought fit to call a conference to which all the
plenipotentiaries of the eight powers that signed the treaty of
Paris were invited.

Prince Talleyrand came and presented the Due de Dalberg
and the Comte de la Tour du Pin as French plenipotentiaries.

The Portuguese ambassador brought four plenipotentiaries,
and Prince Metternich Baron von Wessemberg.^

Prince Talleyrand had, in order to facilitate business, drawn
up a rough draft, arranging the work of the congress. (See
paragraphs 1-5.)

He had had an interview the evening before with Lord
Castlereagh, who, while approving the arrangement, had in-
sinuated that it would be necessary for him to talk it over
with Prince Metternich, and that every proposition emanating
from France would always inspire a feeling of distrust.

Prince Talleyrand showed it before the sitting to Prince
Metternich and some other plenipotentiaries.

^ Johan-Philippe, Baron von Wessemberg-Amp6ngen, bom in the year 1773, was
an Austrian diplomatist. He represented Austria at the Diet, at the time of the affair
of the Secularisations (1802), was afterwards ambassador at Berlin, then at Munich,
and London. He assisted Prince Metternich at the Congress of Vienna. In 1848 he
was for a while Minister of Foreign Affairs, and died in 1858.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 283:

At the opening of the conference, Prince Metternich made
a very diffuse speech, of which the object was to show that the
confidential communications which had passed with regard to
the affairs of Poland, had as yet been barren of result, but that
they were on the eve of solution ; that the German Conferences
were hastening forward the work of a plan of federation which
would give to Europe a fresh guarantee of tranquillity ; that,
such being the state of affairs, he would not advise that the
congress be adjourned, but that they should seek apian affording
the time to discuss those questions foreign to the other powers.
He insisted that the actual congress could not be so called, and
that \h&form of resolutions could not be admitted there.

Hereupon Prince Talleyrand remarked how very extra-
ordinary it seemed, to change the intention, nay, the very
meaning of the words themselves, from one conference to
another. That at Paris a congress had been requested, that
now, they said, this congress which they had requested, ought
not to be held, and ought not to be a congress ; that they ought
to reassemble immediately on the first of November, but that the
summons had not been made with the n&cessa.ry formalities, that
the opening ought not to be an opening. ....

Prince Metternich finished by proposing a new delay of
ten to twelve days for the verification of powers, which all
the plenipotentiaries would be invited to send to an office
appointed for the purpose. And speaking of the influence which
could be brought to bear upon the congress, he said, with
some show of malice, that it could be of two kinds : (i) that of
the difficulties ; and (2) that of the facilities, which could be put
in the way of the work.

Prince Talleyrand took up this phrase, and said that when
every one's interests lay the same way, there was no other
" influence " than that of cleverness and stupidity.

Prince Metternich then communicated to us his own project of
declaration, which is subjoined to No. 6. Discussions, insipid and
without interest, occupied two hours, showing nothing but the
levity and want of reflection which had been given to such
important matters.

At last it was agreed : —

1. Not to adjourn the congress ;

2. To appoint a commission for examining credentials ;

3. To reassemble on the morrow to hear a new scheme of
convocation read ; to determine whether the work could not
be done by committees appointed by the congress, to be re-
examined by a general committee, and to determine the form of
discussion to be admitted.

284 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

It was also agreed that the drafts presented by the French,
commissioners should serve as the basis for the morrow's
discussion.

The commission for examiping credentials was appointed by-
lot. Russia, England, and Prussia were selected. A report will
be drawn up by this commission after the credentials have been
handed in.

These conclusions would lead to the idea that one step more
had been effected ; but on examining the state of affairs, it will
be seen : —

1. That the four powers have not renounced the idea of
establishing that system of the balance of power which they
have worked out to their own advantage.

2. That they would allow France no voice in the matter.

3. That their momentary embarrassment is the consequence of
the unexpected and exaggerated claims of the Emperor of Russia.

4. That, in order to free themselves from this dilemma they,
are willing to sacrifice Saxony, and to present an appearance of
unanimity on the question of Poland.

5. That the principles set forth by the King of France have
recalled Europe to its proper dignity, and that the voice which
he has raised, if it has not yet rallied all the wiser spirits, will
yet finish by one day being listened to.

In all this the weakness of the Austrian government, the
ignoring of all principle on the part of the cabinets of Russia
and Prussia, and the suspicions of the cabinet of London
against France, are plainly to be seen. And it is impossible to
stand firm against such powerful intrigues save by marching in
the path pointed out by Reason alone, and by taking one's stand
on the wise teaching she gives with regard to the existence
and mutual relations, of separate bodies of society.

If the powers directly interested in the settlement of Poland
could come to some understanding as to her boundaries, that
should not disarrange the balance of power in this part of
Europe, we might have the hope that things in general should
arrange themselves, and then await with patience, news of the
same. By a secret agreement Russia, Prussia, and Austria, have
determined to effect the partition of Warsaw without France
being able to interfere, and we believe we should find nothing
to regret in this.

If they can come to some such understanding, Europe will
remain tranquil. If they cannot, the alliance is ipso facto
dissolved, and France will find herself called upon to under-
take the most honourable intervention that she has ever had the
opportunity of doing in state matters.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 285

It is not yet possible to foresee the last move of the
Emperor of Russia, who alone, by his presumption and un-
practical ideas, is on the eve of rekindling wars and troubling
Europe for some time to come.

He returned the day before yesterday, in the evening, from his
visit to Hungary, which he had made in company with the
Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia.

This journey, which he had himself proposed, was further
marked by intrigue. He wished to cajole the Hungarian people,
and to surround his person with the head clergy of the Greek
Church, a class very numerous in Hungary. We hear from Lord
Castlereagh himself, that the Greeks are already fomenting war
against Turkey ; that the Servians have just taken up arms, and
that a Russian army is on its way to the frontier. And while
giving himself to such disturbing projects on this side, the
Emperor of Russia is telling the Swiss ministers here that he
will not leave Vienna till he has finished their business. He has
nominated, according to what we have heard, Baron de Stein to
negotiate with them.^

Before his departure for Hungary, he had given orders that a
.reply on the question of Poland should be prepared for Lord
Castlereagh, and that an account of the settlement and organiz-
ation of the country should be drafted. If he persist, this
draft will infallibly have a decided influence over future events
in Europe, and one perhaps, not altogether to the advantage of
Russia.

It is believed that the reply will be forwarded to Lord
Castlereagh after the Emperor Alexander has corrected and
approved it. It is thought to lay claims to creating a new
Poland in the duchy of Warsaw, and giving Saxony to
Prussia.

The Grand-Duchesse of Oldenburg declared, the day before

1 Charles, Baron de Stein, bom in 1757 at Nassau, of a noble and ancient family.
He entered the Prussian service in 1779, and in 1784 was appointed minister at
Aschaffenburg, and entered the cabinet in 1804. Immediately afterwards, he was
made first president of all the Fiscal Chambers of Westphalia at Munster, and
Minister of Customs and Manufactories in 1S04. He was one of the most inveterate
enemies of France in the Prussian cabinet, and took an active part in the resistance
in 1806. After the defeat he was obliged to retire. Recalled in 1807, his efforts at
reorganizing the finances and the army roused the jealousy of Napoleon, who demanded
his dismissal (1808). He fled to Austria. In 1812 he went to Russia, where he was
eagerly welcomed by the emperor, who attached him to his suite, and made him one
of his most trusty councillors. During the years 1813 and 1814 he excited the
passions of Germany against France by every means in his power, and followed the
allied sovereigns to Paris. He then went to the Congress of Vienna, where he again
met the Emperor Alexander, who made use of him on several occasions, but on this
new scene of action he played but a secondary part. Plenipotentiary at the Congress
of Aix-Ia-Chapelle in 1818, he was appointed state councillor and died in 183 1.

286 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

yesterday, that it seemed that her brother had decided these
two questions.

We have often repeated our opinion, that in order to prevent
this, there is no other means than that of opposing the public
opinion of Europe against the abuse of her strength that
Russia would make, and that it is for this reason that it was
necessary to convene the congress and give it as much dignity
as possible. If Russia grew too aggressive, France must all
the more play the part of protectress.

Were it not for the weakmindedness of Prince Metternich
and the prejudice of Lord Castlereagh against any influence
whatever on the part of France in the affairs of Europe,
the matter would soon be settled. Meanwhile, this condition of
affairs is protracted, and so long, one may almost say, as
this fear of France exists, men will remain blind to all other
dangers.

In the midst of all these efforts to bring the Emperor of
Russia back to more moderate ideas on the subject of Poland,
the German conferences present some interest, on account of the
conduct of Bavaria with respect to them.

Prussia's plan was to form a very close league, and share the
leadership of it with Austria. Bavaria frustrated this, by
demanding that each should take full powers of leadership
in turn. She saw that Prussia's object was to use this league
as a support in her usurpation of Saxony. And as she will not
consent to this, she will make known her intentions, when the
occupation of Saxony has been officially notified to her ; and
she must now declare her intentions of never consenting to this.
In order to be able to sustain this independent part, Bavaria
has just ordered a strong levy of recruits, and raised her army to
the number of seventy thousand men.

You therefore see. Monsieur le Comte, that if, in our last
despatches, we induced the king to assume an attitude suitable
both to his own dignity and to the exigencies of the moment,
we so acted that he need have no fear of being compromised
in a coalition aimed against France ; but that, on the contrary,
he should find himself at the head of those who will unite
to defend the liberties of Europe whenever threatened.

The article in the Moniteur} which so boldly gives utterance

* The following is the Article :

"The preceding declaration," (that namely of the plenipotentiaries who would

adjourn the opening of the congress till November l) "by exposing the

motives which led to the prorogation of the Congress of Vienna, is the first guarantee
of that spirit of wisdom which will direct the work of the assembled plenipotentiaries.
It is in fact by maturity of views, in the calm of all passion, that the authority that is to

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 287

to the principles which direct the policy of the king, has caused
a great sensation here, and has been almost universally ap-
proved. We have observed that while spreading the rumour
that, chagrined by the loss of conquests, the French army
would drag the government into a fresh war, and that it was
necessary to remain still under arms, this same government had
sufficient force, and a sufficiently firm hold upon public opinion,
to declare that France was content with her boundaries, because
she possessed within herself all the elements of strength and
prosperity which she needs for her happiness.

It is in this way that the hate and suspicion still surround-
ing us on all sides will best be allayed, and confidence restored,
which is the principal aim of our policy, and which will give the
king that force and dignity whiclr are his due in his relations
with Europe.

Be pleased to accept ....

No. loA. — The Ambassadors of the King at the Con-
gress TO THE Minister of Foreign Affairs in Paris.

Vienna, October 31, 18 14.

Monsieur le Comte,

The conference mentioned in our letter of to-day has been
held this evening, before the departure of the messenger ; we
therefore have the honour of informing you of its result.

After reading the protocol of the conference of the 30th, the

protect the principles of the public law, invoked and recognized in the last treaty of
Paris, must be re-bom.

" Thus the legitimate expectations of our contemporaries will be met, and in the
following negotiations a result conformable to what the universal rights of peoples,
and the universal law of justice, prescribe to nations in their mutual intercourse, will
be obtained.

" At a time when the great powers are leagued together for the express purpose
of introducing into the relations of states respect for property and safety for crowned
heads, no other political transactions except those stamped with this equitable
character ought to be expected.

' ' Europe is already accepting this happy augury, and France, who envies no other
states the advantages they may reasonably expect, only aspires to the adjustment of a
fair equilibrium. Having in herself all the elements of strength and prosperity, she
does not seek them beyond her own territories ; she lends an ear to no insinuation of
simple expediency ; and donning again the rble which has hitherto won her the esteem
and acknowledgment of peoples, she seeks no other fame than that which rests for
warranty upon the alliance of force with moderation and justice ; she desires to be-
come again the supporter of the weak and defender of the oppressed.

"It is in this spirit that France will concur in arrangements tending to consolidate
the general peace ; and the sovereigns, who have so nobly proclaimed the same
principles, wiU sanction this lasting treaty, which is to assure the peace of the
vioT\i."—MoniUur, October 22, 1811.

288 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

declaration, of which a copy is subjoined, was passed. It will be
printed some time to-morrow.

The projects proposed by Prince Talleyrand have been ap-
proved, and have found their place in the correspondence in
Nos. 2 and 3 : Prince Metternich introduced a proposal to dis-
cuss the questions Nos. 3 and 4. Count Nesselrode asked that
this discussion might be put off till to-morrow, as he had not had
time for receiving the orders of the emperor. This was also
agreed to. In a conversation between the two emperors in
Hungary, when they discussed the question which would seem
likely to put them at variance, the Emperor of Russia said, " I
have not yet said my last word."

At the meeting of to-day. Lord Castlereagh, was attended
by Lords Stewart, Cathcart,^ and Clancarty.^

We are told that Counts Rasumoffski * and Stackelberg *
would be present at the first conference to represent Russia.
Be pleased to accept ....

No. 9. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King
Louis XVI 1 1.

Vienna, October 31, 1814.

Sire,

The state of things does not seem modified at first sight ;
but there are not wanting symptoms of a change, which have
already begun to show themselves, and may gain in importance
according to the conduct and language of the Emperor of Russia.
On the morning of the day on which he set out for Hungary,
he had an interview with Prince Metternich, in which it is agreed
on all hands that he treated this minister with a pride and
violence of language, which would have been thought extra-

^ Lord William Cathcart, bom in 1755, entered the army, served in a campaign in
America, became brigadier-general in 1793, and served in this capacity in Holland.
He was peer of Scotland in 1807, member of the Privy Council and ^^ce-admiral.
In 1809 he directed the expedition against Copenhagen. In 1812 he went to St.
Petersburgh as ambassador, followed the Emperor Alexander during the campaigns
of 1S13 and 1814, and signed the treaty of Paris, May 30. He was sent to Vienna
as plenipotentiary at the congress. In 1815 he was created peer of England, and
died 1843.

- Richard Power-Trench, Earl of Clancarty, Privy Councillor, Chairman of the
Committee of the Privy Council for the" Colonies and Commerce, Postmaster-
General. In 1 814 he was accredited to the Court of Vienna as plenipotentiary.

' Andre, Count, afterwards Prince, Rasumoffski, was born in the year 1752.
Russian diplomatist ; was successively ambassador at Stockholm, Naples, and finally,
at Vienna, where he took part in the congress. He died in 1836.

* Gustavus, Count Stackelberg, private counsellor and Chamberlain of the Czar.
He was at the time we speak of, ambassador of Russia at Vienna, and, as such,
-attended the Congress.

CHARLES MAURICE TALLEYRAND
FROM AN EARLY PORTRAIT

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 289

ordinary, even towards one of his servants. The story runs ^ that
Prince Metternich having said on the subject of Poland, that, if
it were a question of making one, they also could do so, he had
not only termed this expression gross and improper, but had
allowed himself to be carried so far as to say that Prince Metter-
nich was the only man in Austria who could have taken such a
rebellious tone : and they add that matters reached such a pitch
that Prince Metternich told him he would ask his master to
appoint another minister to represent him at the congress.
Prince Metternich came away from this interview in a state of
mind such as his friends say they have never known in him
before. He who, a few days before, had told Count von
Schulenburg that he would retrench himself in Time, and make
an arm of Patience, has shown that he could very well lose it, if
it had to undergo many such trials as that.

This is not likely to dispose him to come to friendly
terms with the Emperor of Russia, the opinion of the Austrian
generals and archdukes ought to render him equally indisposed
to abandon Saxony. I have reasons for believing that the
Emperor of Austria is now inclined to offer some resistance.
There is a certain Count von Sickingen here, who is admitted
to the intimacy of this prince, and whose acquaintance I have
formed. After the departure for Hungary, he went to the
Marshal von Wreda, and then came to me, to engage us on the
part of the emperor to keep everything suspended until his
return.

There is a current report that during the journey to Buda- 1
Pesth, whence the sovereigns returned at noon of the day '
before yesterday, the Emperor Alexander having complained of
Prince Metternich, the Emperor Francis replied that he thought
it better that the business should be transacted by ministers, that
there was thus more liberty and more progress : that he never
transacted his own affairs himself, but that at the same time his
ministers did nothing without his orders ; that finally, in the course
of the conversation he said, amongst other things, that when his
people, who had never abandoned him, who had done everything
for him, and given everything to him, were disturbed, as they were
at the present time, his duty was to do all that he could to
tranquillize them ; that on this, the Emperor Alexander, asking
if his character and loyalty ought not to be sufficient to prevent
and remove all uneasiness, the Emperor Francis replied that
secure frontiers were the surest safeguard for peace.

This conversation has come to my ears in almost precisely

' Suppress«d in the text of the archives.
VOL. II. U

290 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

the same words from Count von Sickingen and Prince Metternich.
It seems that the emperor, little accustomed to showing fight,
returned very well pleased with himself.

All precautions taken to prevent our knowing what is pass-
ing in the commission of the political organization of Germany
have been without success.

At the first sitting, it was proposed by Prussia, that all the
princes whose states were completely included in the confedera-
tion, should renounce the right of making war, peace, and of
sending embassies. Marshal von Wreda having refused to agree
to this, Herr von Humboldt exclaimed that it was easy to see that
Bavaria had still at heart an alliance with France, and that this
was a fresh reason for pressing the proposal still more urgently.
But at the second meeting, the marshal, having received his
orders from the king, peremptorily rejected the proposal, and
it was withdrawn, with the substitution that half the military
forces of the confederation should be under the control of Austria,
and half under that of Prussia. Marshal von Wreda proposed
that the number of controlling powers be increased and that their
authority alternate among them. It was further proposed to
establish between all the confederate states an intimate bond,
for the purpose of keeping the possessions of each one in the
state in which they will have been settled by the arrangements
now about to be made. The King of Bavaria, who easily under-
stood, that Prussia had in view by this, to secure to herself the
possession of Saxony as against the opposition of those powers
whose wish is to preserve this kingdom intact ; who fully perceives
that he would have everything to fear himself, if Saxony
were once sacrificed, and who is ready to defend it, if only he be
not abandoned to rely upon his own resources alone, has ordered
a fresh levy in his dominions of twenty thousand men, which will
raise the number of his forces to seventy thousand. Far from
wishing to enter the proposed league, his intention, at least at
present is that, as soon as the Prussians have seized on Saxony,
his minister retire from the commission, declaring that he refuses
to be an accomplice, and far less a voucher, for such an
usurpation.

The Prussians do not know of this intention of the king, but
they are quite aware of his armaments, and probably suspect
him of wishing to unite his forces with those of the powers who
might wish to defend Saxony. They feel besides, that without
the consent of France, Saxony will never be for them^ a solid
acquisition. It is also said that the ministry, which does not
share the blind devotion of the king to the Emperor Alexander,

^ Suppressed.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 291

is not without fears of trouble from Russia, and that it would
willingly renounce claims to Saxony provided it found means
elsewhere of completing the number of subjects which Prussia
has a right to claim by the treaties. Whatever may be her
sentiments and views, the Prussian ministers appear very anxious
to meet us, and send us invitation after invitation.

Lord Castlereagh, who has thought of the plan of fortifying
Prussia on this side of the Elbe, under the pretext of making
her serve as a barrier against the encroachments of Russia, has
this project still greatly at heart. In a conversation that he had
with me a few days ago, he reproached me for making the
question of Saxony one of the first importance, whereas, accord-
ing to him, this was as nothing, while that of Poland was every-
thing. I replied that the question of Poland would be one of the
first importance in my eyes if he himself had not reduced it to a
simple question of boundaries. Did he wish to establish Poland
in a position of complete independence .' I should be entirely
with him. But when the discussion was one of boundaries, it was
for Austria and Prussia, who were the parties chiefly concerned,
to step to the front. My part was then reduced to supporting
them, and that I meant to do. As to his project of uniting
Prussia and Austria I showed him arguments to which he
could not reply, and cited to him facts in thfe policy of
Prussia throughout the last sixty years, which he was forced to
admit ; but while condemning the old wrongs done by this
ministry, he retrenched himself in the hope of a better future.
Meanwhile I know that several people have brought forward
objections which have struck him. For instance it is asked, how
he could consent to put one of the greatest commercial towns of
Germany (Leipzig), where one of the greatest fairs of Europe is
held, under the dominion of Prussia, with whom England had no
guarantee of being always at peace, instead of leaving it in the
hands of a prince with whom England could never have occasion
to pick a quarrel ? He was struck with a kind of astonishment
and fear of his policy compromising in any way the mercantile
interests of England.

He had invited me to draw up with him a plan for summoning
the congress. 1 had sent him one with which he had expressed
himself satisfied.

I also drew up some drafts for the first meeting of ministers,
for the verifying of credentials, and for the commissions
which were to be appointed at the first sitting of the congress.
(These several projects are all subjoined to my despatch addressed
to the department, and that M. de Jaucourt will submit to your
Majesty.) As M. de Dalberg and myself both owed a visit to

U 2

292 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Lord Castlereagh, we went together to carry them to him the day
before yesterday in the evening. He found nothing to find
fault with in them, but observed that the fear that the Prussians
had of us would surely cause them to suspect some veiled
intention. The fears, real or pretended of the Prussians, led the
conversation naturally back to the eternal question of Poland
and Saxony. He had some maps on the table, by means of
which \ showed him that Saxony being once in the same hands
as Silesia, Bohemia could be taken in a few weeks, and that
Bohemia once taken, the heart of the Austrian monarchy was
left open and defenceless. He appeared astounded. He had
spoken to us as if he has rested his expectations on Prussia from
its being impossible to rest them on Austria. He seemed
surprised when we told him that the latter only needed money
in order to assemble her troops, that she would, in that case, have
very imposing forces, and that for this a million sterling would /
now be sufficient. This roused his spirit, and he seemed dis- >
posed to support Poland to the very end. He knew that they'
were at work at a reply to his report in the Russian cabinet,
but no longer apparently expected it to be satisfactory. He i
had received information that Servia was under arms, and told
us that a Russian contingent, commanded by one of the best
generals of the country, was on its way to the frontiers of the
Ottoman Empire. Nothing therefore was in his eyes more
urgent or necessary than to put a barrier against the ambition of
of Russia. But he wanted this to be done without war ; if this
were impossible, war at least without the aid of France. From
his estimation of our strength, he almost gives the idea of its
being France that he fears the most. " You have," he told
us, " twenty-five million inhabitants, really equivalent to forty
millions." Once he let escape him : " If only you no longer had
any designs on the left bank of the Rhine! "...It was easy for
me to prove to him, from the state of affairs, both in France, and
in Europe generally, which was all under arms, that to give
France credit for ambitious views now, was to give her credit for
being mad. " That may be," he replied, but a French army
traversing Germany now under any pretext, would make too
great an impression, would awaken too many bitter memories.
I represented to him that war would not be necessary, that it
would amply suffice to set Russia face to face with Europe
united under a single purpose, and this brought us back to the
opening of the congress. But he, speaking continually of diffi-
culties, without ever saying in what these difficulties consisted,
advised me to see Prince Metternich ; from which I came to
the conclusion that they had concerted together some plan,

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 293

which he would frankly have communicated to me, had he npt
feared some objection on my part. In conclusion, he naively
admitted, in accusing us of having retarded matters, that
without us everything would by this time have been arranged,
as they had been of one mind at first, an admission which shows
how much influence, in their opinion, your Majesty must have in
the affairs of Europe.

To sum up. Lord Castlereagh's attitude, without being very
favourable, seemed to me to be in a fair way to become so, and
perhaps the reply which he is awaiting from the Emperor
Alexander will contribute to this also.

Yesterday morning, I received a note from Prince Metternich,
inviting me to a conference at eight o'clock in the evening.

I will not weary your Majesty with the details of this meeting,
prolific indeed of words, but barren of result. They are to b^
found elsewhere^ in my letter to the department.

The end of it all has been, that a commission for verifying
credentials has been formed, composed of three members,
appointed by lot, that the credentials will be sent to them for
verification, and that after this the congress will meet. \^i

This evening, we have had another meeting. The rou%h
draft of the declaration relative to the verification of credentials
has been read and passed, and will be printed to-morrow. I am
sending off^ a copy of it this evening in my report to the de-
partment. I thought that your Majesty would prefer that all
documents should be adjoined to the letter addressed to M. de
Jaucourt, in order that the department may have and preserve
them in their proper sequence.

For the last eight months the situation of France has been of
such a character, that, no sooner has she obtained one end, than
she has had a second before her, equally necessary to attain,
without, in the majority of cases, being left the power to choose
her means of reaching it. Scarcely has the tyrant been hurled
down, scarcely has it been rendered possible to openly express
the desires, which, in the depths of the heart, have, from all parts
and for a long time, been demanding the recall of your Majesty
to his kingdom, than it was necessary to provide for the disar-
mament of France, covered as she was, at the time of his
return, with five hun dred thousand foreigners, which could only
be effected by bringing about a cessation of hostilities by an
armistice obtained at any price. Therefore, to obtain the

' Suppressed in the text of the archives.

2 Text: "J 'en envoie ce soir lacopie dans ma depeche au departement, " = as
translated. Var.: " et j'en envoie ce soir la copie dans a«« depeche," = "andlara
sending off this evening the copy in a report."

294 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

immediate release of the kingdom from the armies which
were devouring its substance, it was necessary, to the exclusion
of all other considerations, to aim at a prompt conclusion of
peace. Your Majesty had then apparently nothing else to do but
bask in the love of your people and the reward of your own
wisdom, when a fresh demand was made upon your constancy
and energy ; that of saving Europe if possible, from the perils
with which the ambition and passions of some powers, and the
blindness and pusillanimity of others were threatening her. The
difficulties of the enterprise have never seemed to me sufficiently
great to render hope of success impossible.

The letter with which your Majesty deigned to honour me on
the '2 1st October raise my hopes, at the same time that the
expressions of satisfaction you were pleased to accord to my
zeal, give me fresh courage to proceed.

I have the honour to be

No. 5B. — King Louis XVIII. to the Prince de
Talleypland.

'^KViASi, November i,, 1814.

My Cousin,

I have received your letter No. 8. I have read it with
great interest, and with great indignation. The tone and the
principles for which Bonaparte^ has so greatly and so justly
been blamed, were different in no respect from those of the
Emperor of Russia.

I am pleased to flatter myself that the views of the
army and of the imperial family will bring back Prince
Metternich to more healthy opinions ; that Lord Castlereagh
will share, more than he has done at present, those of the Prince
Regent, and that you will then employ to advantage the arms I
have placed in your hands. But, however that may be, continue
to deserve the well-merited praises that I am pleased to repeat
to-day, by holding firm to the course you have laid out,
and be quite sure that my name^ shall never be found at the
bottom of an instrument sanctioning the most revolting im-
morality. Whereupon, my cousin, I pray God may always
have you in His safe and holy keeping.

Louis.

^ Var. : Buonaparte.

^ Text : " que mon nom ne se trouvera jamais. " Var.: " que jamais mon nom,"
= "that never shall my name," &c. (More emphatic.)

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 29s

No. I lA. — The Ambassadors of the King at the Congress
TO THE Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, November 6, 1814.
Monsieur le Comte,

We have the honour of forwarding to you copies of the
reports of the first two sittings which have taken place.

The memoranda mentioned in it, are those which underwent
discussion, and were presented by the embassy of France ;
they have been forwarded by the last despatch to the
department.

A third conference was held on the ist of November, at
which the Comte de Noailles, who arrived the same morning,
was present

The result was unimportant ; it has not yet even been
decided up to the present to draft a report of it.

Prince Metternich, in his quality of president, laid d_own in a
remarkably diffuse and disjointed speech : " That before pro-
ceeding to the formation of committees and commissions, it was
necessary to understand each other ; that it was necessary for
each power to have settled with the others, what interested it
directly."

He told us further :

" That every question treated had two sides ; that this
congress was not a congress ; that its opening was not, properly
speaking, an opening at all ; that the commissions were not
commissions ; that in the assembly of the powers at Vienna,
the only advantage they had to note was that of an Europe
%vithout distances : that they could agree, or they could not.

Prince Metternich has shown in this sitting the full extent of
his mediocrity, of his taste for petty intrigues and an uncertain
and tortuous course, as also of his marvellous command of
words that are vague and void of meaning.

To take one example out of a thousand ; he terms the com-
missions " chances of negotiation" It would be useless to point
out the irrelevance of such a way of talking.

We had been told that the negotiations relative to the
principal questions had taken a turn for the better, and while
awaiting the confirmation of this, carefully avoided increasing
difficulties which might trammel the course of affairs.

The majority at this meeting agreed in their wish to gain
time, and to debate another time the possibility, and the forms
of, a general convocation of the congress.

The question of Poland, and, as a natural consequence, that
of Saxony, are however now boldly attacked.

296 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

The Emperor of Russia, we are informed, has sent his reply
to the English ministers. The report, drafted by Baron von
Anstedt,^ has not been of a satisfactory nature, and must be
understood to show but little conciliatory spirit.

Lord Castlereagh replied yesterday. We are told that he
insists, in the name of England, and for the safety of Europe,
that Russia pass not the Vistula.

Prince Metternich has been obliged to take up this
question, as, the emperor, his master, has submitted the subject
for the consideration of a state council, and this, in its con-
clusions, determined : " That Russia could not advance further
without menacing the military positions of Austria, and that it
was yet more important for Germany to prevent the defiles of
the Saale ^ falling into the hands of Prussia."

The supplementary instructions of the king, whjch had been
brought by M. de Noailles, enabled the plenipotentiaries to
throw out hints as to the active part which France would take in
order to bring about a real and lasting balance of power and to
hinder Russia from obtaining possession of the Grand Duchy of
Warsaw, Prussia, and Saxony.

The minister of Bavaria had been apprised of this, and
notice of it had also been sent to the Emperor of Austria.
We believe that this will sustain Prince Metternich in the
resistance which he must offer to the claims of Russia and
Prussia. Already the firm and decided tone taken by the
embassy from the beginning has forced him to second with
more energy the great interests of Europe. We are generally
assured that the two powers, Russia and Prussia, are getting
enlightened as to the difficulties which they may expect to
meet with before they can succeed in their various projects.
The influence which the English ministers also exercise on
these questions gives us grounds for hoping that they will be
modified, and that the king will have the glory of having stopped
the execution of schemes which would have been disastrous for
Europe and her future tranquillity.

Lord Castlereagh indeed always shows an inclination to
procure Saxony for Prussia, but this latter power will reflect that
she cannot hold it in peace without the concurrence of France,

^ John, Baron Anstedt, a Russian diplomatist, was bom at Strasbourg in the year
1760. In 1789, he went to Russia and was given a post in the Foreign Department.
He was several times appointed envoy at Vienna. In 181 1, he was made director of
the diplomatic cabinet of Prince Koutousofif. He represented Russia at the Congress
of Prague (1813), went thence to Vienna (1814), and was till his death, Russian pleni-
potentiary at the Diet of Frankfort. He died in 1835.

" The Saale takes its rise in Bavaria, traverses the whole of Saxony and empties
itself in the Elbe. It was through the defiles of the Saale that Napoleon passed in
the campaign of 1806.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 297

and will prefer perhaps to arrange matters by other combina-
tions.

Prince von Hardenberg has admitted to one of his friends
that he believes that this incorporation of Saxony is very dis-
tasteful to Germany, and that Prussia would perhaps consent
to leave a kernel of it.

Austria appears to wish that this kernel be composed of the
three-fourths of Saxony, if the Russian boundary be definitely
fixed at the Vistula. Saxony would then retain from fifteen
to sixteen hundred thousand inhabitants, and would still be
larger than Wurtemberg or Hanovet

This outcome would indeed be beyond all that could
possibly have been expected when the French plenipotentiaries
arrived at the congress, and the king would have attained a
really remarkable success, should things turn out in this way.

The arrangements of the German Federation continue to be
treated with much mystery. Bavaria resists Prussia, and
refuses to sacrifice any rights of sovereignty, save what may be
absolutely necessary for the formation of the league.

It has hitherto been impossible to treat of the exchange of
territory, because everything depends upon the fixation of
Prussian boundaries.

There remain now two other political subjects of interest
to settle, which will apparently soon be taken into consideration.
They are the affairs of the Helvetian corporation, and those of
Italy.

Prince Metternich thought fit yesterday to invite Prince
Talleyrand to a conference at which Lord Castlereagh and
Count Nesselrode were present ; and these two subjects were
there broached.

These gentlemen informed Prince Talleyrand that a commis-
sion had been appointed to arrange with the Swiss deputies
present at Vienna the affairs of the Helvetian corporation. Prince
Talleyrand said that he had appointed M. de Dalberg to debate
as to the course that France had to pursue in this matter.

With regard to Italian affairs, the embarrassment of Prince
Metternich was very plain when we were on the subject of
Naples. It must be attributed, I suppose, to the fear with which
public spirit, as well as the little taste the Italians have for
the Austrian government inspires him, and to the influence that
Murat exercises over the Jacobins of Italy, particularly over
those of the former kingdom of Italy, of which he was some time
governor.

In order to paralyse this influence. Prince Talleyrand pro-
posed to abstain from touching on the fate of Murat till after

298 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

the other Italian questions had been settled, and when provisory-
rule should have been brought to an end, and the country-
organized in a geographical order commencing with the northern
states.

Prince Metternich admitted that it -was not possible in treating
the affairs of Italy, to discard the claims of the kingdom of
Etruria, but that he desired one or two legations ^ for the Arch-
duchess Marie Louise and her son. The other ministers, holding
that these possessions were a property left unappropriated by the
treaty of Tolentino, thought it equitable to compensate the loss
of Parma by an equivalent.

Seeing that, in the affairs of Italy, France seeks to get three
points, namely, the succession of the house of Carignan to the
throne of Sardinia, the establishing of the house of Parma and
the expulsion of Murat, we must not raise too many difficulties.
Prince Talleyrand has not yet turned his attention to this
question. But it may be taken for granted that the Italian
question will be arranged with these points as a basis.

Prince Talleyrand has appointed M. de Noailles, to whom
he has disclosed the purposes of the king, for the commission
which will be formed for treating this subject in detail.

With regard to the affairs of Switzerland, Lord Castlereagh
would have liked to have been able to dispense with the
opposition of France, but the deputy from Bern ^ declared that
his instructions demanded it imperatively ; and that his govern-
ment, as also that of Soleure and Fribourg, believe it impossible
for Swiss interests to be satisfactorily settled without the inter-
vention of France. The Russian minister, Count Capo d'lstria,^
and Sir Stratford Canning* appears to hold the same opinion.

^ Legation = the name of the six administrative divisions of the Papal States.

"^ Louis Zerdeler ( 1 772-1840), member of the upper council in the canton of Berne,
was made, after the Decree of Mediation, minister at St. Petersburg and plenipo-
tentiary at the Congress of Vienna. He resigned his functions in 1815.

^ Jean, Comte Capo d'lstria, was born at Corfu in the year 1776. At twenty-
seven years of age, he was chosen to be Secretary of State by the imperial commis-
sioner of Russia in the Ionian Isles. When the peace of Tilsit brouglit these islands
under the rule of France, Capo d'lstria laid down his functions and went to St.
Petersburg, where he obtained a post in the cabinet of the Foreign Secretary. He
followed the Emperor Alexander in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814, and was charged
to Switzerland with a secret mission, the ol)ject of which was to get the neutrality of
this country declared and respected. In 1814, Capo d'lstria was sent to the Congress
of Vienna as plenipotentiary, and, the year following, was made Foreign Secretary of
State. Greece was already beginning to rise, and the situation of Capo d'lstria,
a Greek by birth and minister of the Czar, became full of difficulties. He was in fact
dismissed in 1819, at the time of the insurrection of Ypsilanti. He then retired to
Geneva, where he lived eight years, after which he was appointed President of
Greece by his countrymen in 1827. He accepted these functions and held them for
four years in the midst of war and civil strife, and was assassinated in the year 1831.

* Sir Stratford Canning, born in 1786, was an English diplomatist and a relation
of the celebrated minister of that name. In 1814, he was plenipotentiary minister

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 299

The suspicion and jealousy of the other powers will then be
overcome on this point, and we hope that the settlement of the
Swiss question will not present many difficulties.

The canton of Bern desires to recover that part of the
canton of Aargau which belonged to it before. The canton
of Zurich, urged on by former motives of jealousy, will only con-
sent on condition of receiving a portion of it herself. Legitimate
rights struggling against a system of expediency, such as is to be
seen in Germany in the question of Saxony, may here also be
observed. The authorities seem disposed to give the bishopric
of Basel to the canton of Bern. On this point a question
presents itself, which ought to be immediately submitted to the
decision of the king.

The canton of Geneva asks for ten or twelve thousand souls of
the country of Gex,^ so as to adjoin directly the canton of Vaud.
In exchange, she would offer France twice the number of popu-
lation taken on the bishopric of Basel, and the military frontier
between Huningen, Vesoul and Besangon would be improved.

France would lose nothing but the passage to the lake of
Geneva, and she could stipulate that the right of navigation and
commerce be reserved to her.

This exchange, which we consider advantageous, would
necessitate however the restoration of a part of the canton of
Aargau ^ to the canton of Bern, the bishopric of Basel being then
much reduced. But every advantage that can be gained for the
canton of Berne is, so to speak, an advantage given to France,
because of the strong sentiments of attachment and devotion
which bind this canton to the House of Bourbon.

We notice at the same time that the Emperor of Russia will,
if this exchange does not take place, surround the canton of
Geneva by a part of Savoy which hems the lake towards
Valais. That exchange would consequently serve to dismiss
this plan.

Would you therefore have the goodness. Monsieur le Comte,
transmit to us the orders of the king as soon as possible, with
any modifications it may please his Majesty to make. If his
Majesty consents to the exchange, he will signify the desire on
the part of France of doing all in her power for the advantage

in Switzerland, and was sent in the same capacity to the Congress of Vienna. In 1824
he was made ambassador at St. Petersburg, and afterwards (1827) at Constantinople.
In i832he entered the Houseof Commons, returned to Constantinople in 1842, and,
with some intervals, resided there until 1858. He then returned to England, where
he lived until his death in the year 1880.

1 France then possessed the portion of the Gex country situated on the lake of
Geneva, with the town of Versoix. This was the territory coveted by the canton of
Geneva.

- Aarau, Brugg, Lenzburg, and Zofingen with adjacent territory.

300 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

of the Helvetian corporation ; and, according to the words of the
Swiss deputies, nay, of the deputy of Bern himself, she would
thus gain for herself a preponderating influence. Prince Talley-
rand thinks the exchange would be advantageous ; but we need
an authorization to make it
Be pleased to accept, &c.

No. io.^The Prince de Talleyrand to King Louis XVIII.

Vienna, November 6th, 1814.

Sire,

The Comte de Noailles, who arrived here Wednesday
morning (November 2nd), has brought me the additional in-
structions, which your Majesty was so good as to address to me.
Your Majesty's resolutions are now known to the Austrian
cabinet, to the Emperor of Austria himself, and to Bavaria. I
thought it useless to speak of them to Lord Castlereagh, always
so ready to take alarm at the intervention of France, and I
could not speak of them to Count von Miinster, who, having
just left the hands of his doctors, is engaged in preparations for
his marriage with the Countess von Lippe, sister of the Prince
Regent of Buckeburg.

The Comte de Noailles, the day after his arrival, was present
at a conference that led to no result whatever. It was a question
of deciding, whether the verification of credentials once termin-
ated, commissions should be appointed for preparing the work,
how many should be appointed, and with what formalities and
by whom they should be appointed. Prince Metternich made a
long speech, in order to prove that the name " Commission " was
unsuitable, because it supposed a delegation of authority, which
in its turn supposed a deliberating assembly, and this, the
congress could not be. He proposed various expressions in
place of that which displeased him and, unable to satisfy
himself with any of them, concluded that it would be necessary
to seek others in the next conference, which has not yet been
held. These scruples as to the name Commissions, were without
doubt strange, and out of place, when no difficulty had been
made of applying it to the three ministers charged with the
verification of credentials, and to the five who were drawing up
the political organization of Germany. But, if I had supposed
that Prince Metternich had any other object in view than that
of gaining time, he would himself have undeceived me.

After the meeting, he asked me to his study, and told
me that he and Lord Castlereagh had determined not to
allow Russia to pass the Vistula ; that they were doing their

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 301

utmost to get Prussia to make common cause with them on
this question, and that they hoped to succeed. He conjured me
to leave them time for this and not to press them. I wanted
to know on what conditions they flattered themselves that they
would receive the consent of Prussia } He replied, by promising
her a portion of Saxony, that is to say, from four to five hundred
thousand souls of this country, with especially the town and
district of Wittemberg, which may be considered as necessary
to protect Berlin, all this arranged in such a manner as to leave
Saxony still from fifteen to sixteen hundred thousand souls,
Torgau, Kcenigstein, and the course of the Elbe, from the district
of Wittemberg to Bohemia.

I have been informed that, in a Council of State, presided
over by the emperor himself, and composed of Count von Stadion,
Prince von Schwarzenberg and Prince Metternich, as well as
of Count von Zichy and General Duka,^ it was decided as a
principle that the question of Saxony was of a greater interest
for Austria even than that of Poland, and that the safety of the
monarchy demanded that the defiles of Thuringen and of the
Saale should not fall into the hands of Prussia. (I enter into
minuter details on this subject in my letter of to-day, addressed
to the department.)

This circumstance has caused me to put a little more confidence
in what Prince Metternich has said to me on the subject, than I
should have done otherwise. If we succeed in preserving the
kingdom of Saxony intact, with from four-fifths to three-fourths
of its population, we shall have done a great deal for justice,
for the general good, and a great deal also for the glory of
your Majesty.

The Emperor of Russia has answered the report of Lord
Castlereagh. I shall see his reply, and shall have the honour
of describing matters more pertinently, than by hearsay in
my next despatch. At present, I only know with certainty,
that the emperor complains of the injustice which he pretends
has been done him, in supposing in him an ambition which he
has not. He represents himself as in some way ill-treated, and
then, without too violent a transition, declares that he will desist
from none of his former pretensions. This reply roused Lord
Castlereagh's ire, and he sent an answer to the emperor, which is
to be taken by Lord Stewart this evening. His brother has
charged him with this commission, because throughout the war,
he had and still retains, the confidence of the emperor.

Herr von Gentz, who translated this letter for the benefit of

' Peter, Comle Duka, bom in the year 1756, was made feldzeugmeister and Privy
Councillor of the Empire of Austria, and died in 1822.

302 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

the Austrian cabinet, to whom it has been forwarded, says it is
very firm and very good.

The affairs of Switzerland are now being considered. I have
chosen M. de Dalberg to take part in the conferences in which
they will be discussed. I will not repeat to your Majesty all
that has passed on this question, for my report to the department
gives a full account of it.

Yesterday at four o'clock, I paid a visit to Prince Metternich,
who had asked me to call on him. I found Count Nesselrode
and Lord Castlereagh there. Prince Metternich began with fine
protestations of his desire to be in my confidence, to be on good
terms with France, and to do nothing without us.^

" What they desired," he said, " was that, putting aside all
susceptibility, I should do all in my power to aid them in
advancing matters, and in getting out of the dilemma, in which
he affirmed they found themselves."

I replied that their situation with respect to me, was very
different from mine with regard to them ; that I neither wished,
did, nor knew anything with which they were unacquainted ;
while they on the contrary had been doing, and were daily doing
a mass of things of which I was ignorant, or, if I did get to hear
of some of them, it was only by hearsay from the town, that
it was only in this way, that I knew of the existence of a reply
from the Emperor Alexander to Lord Castlereagh. (Here,^ I
saw I embarrassed him, and understood that he was unwilling
to be convicted of having been indiscreet in this respect, before
Count Nesselrode.) I hastened to add that I was quite ignorant
of the contents of this reply, nor did I in fact know definitely, if
there had been one at all. Then, I remarked, that as to the
difficulties of which they complained, I could only attribute
them to one cause, and that was their refusal to assemble. the
congress.

" You will," I told them, " have to assemble it one day or
other. The more you delay, the more grounds will you give
for the suspicion that you have views which you dare not show
in broad daylight. So much hesitation seems to indicate an
uneasy conscience; why do you make a difficulty in ordering,
without waiting for the verification of credentials, which may take
a considerable time, that all those who have sent theirs to the
seal-office, must meet at some specified place .-• The commissions
will be reported there ; it will be declared that each can carry
his demands thither, and they each will go his own way. The

^ Text: "sans nous" = "without i;s.'' Var. : "sans elle" = "without her,"
(France).

' Suppressed in the text of the archives.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 303

committees will then do their work, and business will progress
with a certain amount of regularity."

Lord Castlereagh approved of this plan, which had for him
the merit of clearing out of the way, the difficulty relative to
the contested credentials. But he remarked that the word
" Congress " alone was sufficient to frighten the Prussians, and
that Prince von Hardenberg had an especial horror of it. Prince
Metternich repeated the greater number of the arguments he
had laid before us at the last conference. He thought it prefer-
able to summon the congress, only when they had come to
some agreement, at least on all the more important questions.
" There is one," said he, " that is demanding our attention
now."

He meant that of Poland, but refused to mention it by name,
and passed swiftly to the affairs of Germany, properly so called.
" There is," he said, " great unanimity on these questions
(i.e. of Germany) amongst all who are directly concerned in
them. The affairs of Switzerland are now coming to the front,
and ought not," he added, " to be settled without the intervention
of France."

I told him, I had thought it impossible for them to have
any other opinion, and had therefore selected M. de Dalberg to
take part in the conferences which would be held on the subject.
Passing thence to the affairs of Italy, the word " Complications"
which Prince Metternich is perpetually making use of, for
purposes of expressing himself vaguely — a resource of which his
feeble policy is in constant need — was employed for the affairs
of Genoa and Turin, and those of Naples and Sicily. He wanted
to prove that the tranquillity of Italy, and therefore of Europe,
depended on the Naples business, not being arranged at the
congress, but on its being deferred to some subsequent date.

"The force of things," he said, "will necessarily place the
House of Bourbon on the throne of Naples."

" The force of things," I replied, " is now to be seen in all its
might. It is at the congress, that this question ought to be
settled. In the geographical order, his question is the last of
those of Italy, and I am quite content to follow the geographical
order ; but my compliance can go no further."

Prince Metternich then proceeded to speak of the supporters
Murat had in Italy.

" Organize Italy, and there will be none left him. Put an end
to an odious temporary arrangement ; strengthen the right of
possession in upper and middle Italy ; from the Alps to the
frontiers of Naples, let there be not a single spot of ground under
military occupation ; let there be rightful sovereigns, and a

304 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

regular government ; fix the succession of Sardinia ; send an
archduke to rule Milan ; recognize the rights of the Queen of
Etruria ; give back to the Pope what belongs to him, and
which you detain ; Murat^ will not have any hold left on the
affections of the people and will be no more for Italy than a
brigand."

This geographical line for treating Italian affairs seemed to
answer, and it was decided to call the Marquis de Saint-Marsan *
to the next conference, in order to settle with him the affairs of
Sardinia, in accordance with this plan. M. de Brignoles,^ deputy
of the town of Geneva, is also to be heard on all that concerns
the commercial interests of this town. Lord Castlereagh insists
on Geneva being a free port, and, on this occasion, spoke with
approbation and bitterness, of the franchise of the port of
Marseilles.

We should have been justified in believing that our position
was improving, were it not that I dare not trust appearances
here, having too great reason to distrust the sincerity of Prince
Metternich ; and further, I know not what may be the meaning
of the unexpected departure of the Grand Duke Constantine,
who leaves Vienna to-morrow direct for Warsaw.

An expected journey of the Emperor Alexander to Gratz, in
Styria is much spoken of. It is said that he intends to go as
far as Trieste. One of the archdukes must do him the honours
of this part of the Austrian monarchy. The journey is announced
for the 20th instant.

The court of Vienna continues to show its guests a hospitality,
which, considering the state of its finances, must burden it
considerably. Kings, emperors, empresses, queens, hereditary
princes, prince-regents, are to be seen everywhere. The court
defrays the expenses of all. It is estimated, that the expense

^ Var. : "rf a&^-jMurat," = "and then Mnrat."

° Antony Asinari, Marquis of St. Marsan, was born at Turin in 1 761 of an old
family of Languedoc. He entered when still quite young into the diplomatic service,
and was entrusted with various missions. In 1796, he was made Minister of War and
of Marine. When Piedmont was incorporated to France, M. de St. Marsan was
appointed state-councillor by Napoleon and French minister at Berlin. In 1813, he
returned to Paris and was made a senator. In 1814, M. de St. Marsan was placed
by the allied sovereigns at the head of the temporary government of Turin. King
Victor Emanuel, on his return, appointed him Minister of War S^id plenipotentiary
at the Congress of Vienna. In 1816, he was Foreign Secretary, and President of the
Council in 1818. He retired in 1821 and died in 1828.

' Antony, Marquis de BrignoUes- Sales, descended from an ancient and illustrious
Genoa family. Born in 1786, he was at first audileur at the imperial Council of State,
and, later, prefect of Savona. In 18 14, he was sent to the Congress as plenipotentiary
by the city of Genoa. He took allegiance to the House of Savoy, became head of
the royal University (1816), ambassador at Rome (1839), and later at Paris. He was
appointed Minister of State and Senator, and died in 1863.

■• Omitted in the text of the archives.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 30 1

for each day must amount to two hundred and twenty thousand
florins in paper money. Royalty certainly loses some of the
grandeur which befits it, in such assemblies. It seems to me
rather unbecoming, to find three or four kings, and more princes,
at the balls and teas of private citizens.^ It is necessary to come
to France, to see in royalty that brilliancy and dignity which
render it at once venerable and dear in the eyes of the people.
I have the honour to be, ....

No. 6 B.— King Louis XVIII. to the Prince de
Talleyrand.

Paris, November gth, 1814.

My Cousin,

I have received your report. No'. 9.

I see with satisfaction, the approaching opening of the
congress, but still foresee many difficulties.

I have charged the Comte de Blacas to report to you :

1st An interview which he has had with the Duke of
Wellington.^ You will see that this latter speaks in far plainer
terms than Lord Castlereagh. Which of the two gives the true
intention of that court .■' I do not know ; but what the Duke
of Wellington says will, in any case, be a good weapon in your
hands.'

and. A document which this ambassador declares to be
authentic ; nothing can astonish me that Prince Metternich
does, but I should be surprised, if on October 31st, you had
not yet been acquainted with such a fact. However that may
be, it was in any case necessary for you to be informed of it.

You will learn with pleasure that my brother arrived on
Sunday, in very good health. And now, may God have you, my
cousin, in His safe and holy keeping.

Louis.

No. 4 B. — The Comte de Blacas d'Aulps to the Prince
DE Talleyrand.

Paris, November ()th, 11 84.
I AM bfet following out. Your Highness, an order of
the king, in hastening to transmit to you, from His Majesty,

1 Var. : " de simples particuliers de Vienhe," = " at the houses of private citizens
of Vienna."

^ The Duke of Wellington was at this time ambassador at Paris. He was then
appointed plenipotentiary at the congress from February I to March 26, 1815.

' Text, "mais le dire du Due de Wellington sera dans tous les cas," as translated.
Var. : " mais le Due de Wellington sera en tous cas," = "but the Duke of Wellington
will be in any case."

VOL. II. X

3o6 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

important information, and instructions which he considers no
less essential.

Your late interview with the Emperor of Russia, and yet more,
your fears as to the compliance of Austria and England, have
begotten in the king a lively desire to gather any information
serving to enlighten him as to the real disposition of this last
power. That which has been reported to you of the language
held by the Prince-Regent, joined to that which His Majesty
already knew in this respect, caused him to see the necessity
of sounding the intentions of the British Cabinet.

A conversation which I have just had with the Duke of

Wellington, has accomplished this, or at least has furnished the

king with the opportunity of invoking the co-operation of

England, more strongly still, on all the more thorny questions

of the negotiation. Lord Wellington, after assuring me that

the instructions given to Lord Castlereagh, and with which he

was well acquainted, were absolutely opposed to the designs

of the Emperor Alexander on Poland, and consequently on

Saxony, since the fate of Saxony depends absolutely on the

determination come to with regard to Poland, told me that it

was by devoting attention solely to this great question, and by

neglecting all secondary interests, that an understanding would

be most easily arrived at. According to him, Austria will never

lend support to a project rejected by France, and Prussia

herself, who takes Saxony for want of something better, would

be extremely pleased to find herself again possessed of the Duchy

ot Warsaw. Finding the Duke of Wellington^ so explicit on this

point, I thought that, according to the commands of the king,

I ought to try and take steps which although quite deprived

of any official character, might yet more and more engage

him in the admission of the only views likely to be avowed by

the court of London. I represented to him, that if the views

of his government were such as he told me, and if the only

obstacle to a prompt and happy issue of the negotiations lay

in the difficulty of reducing to one uniform resistance, various

oppositions of different natures, it seemed to me that a compact

concluded between France, England, Spain, and Holland, and

which should have for aim, nothing else but the public expression

of the views held by them conjointly on this question, would soon

obtain the assent of the other courts. This means, by presenting

an imposing concurrence of opinion, would dissolve at once the

charm which was beguiling so many states into a direction

^ Text: "trouvant le Due de Wellington tellement explicite," = "finding the
Duke of Wellington so explicit." •Var. : "Z^ trouvant tellement explicite," =
"finding him so explicit."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 307

contrary to their interests, and the king, having no other am-
bition than the enforcement of the principles of public law,
and of a just balance of power in Europe, could flatter himself
that there would be no cause which would drive from his side
those who, animated by the same sentiments, would be invited
to rally there.

This proposal, whose advantages the Duke of Wellington
was obliged to admit, was rejected by him, on the grounds
of its being superfluous ; but he protested to me with more
emphasis than ever, the just intentions of his government
on the question of Poland and Saxony,^ and even on that of
Naples, and he reiterated that an exclusive attention given to
these great interests would soon bring the plenipotentiaries to the
end, from which the court of St. Petersburg was swerving them.

Your Highness therefore sees, that (whatever may be the
reticence of her minister at the Congress,) England is very
sensible here of the instructions with which she has entrusted
her envoy, instructions which in connecting,^ as the Duke of
Wellington has done, the question of Saxony with that of
Poland, offer the king the most important support. In this
state of affairs, His Majesty thinks that you could to some
advantage make use of the information which I have the honour
to give you. By challenging the instructions of Lord Castle-
reagh, you are thus empowered to put him to the necessity
of giving you some reply, which it would be difficult for him
to make entirely indefinite, since one day he wiU be compelled
to prove that his policy has been consistent with that of his
government, and with the best interests of his country.

The independence of Poland, which would be very popular
in England if carried out, would certainly not ^ be so if Russia
is allowed to do as she proposes.

Your Highness will therefore doubtless see, that in your
intercourse with the English minister, it will be very important
to keep these two suppositions distinct. The king is of opinion
that the stronger the views you express in favour of a real
and complete independence of the Polish people, if that should
be practicable, the more you will deprive Lord Castlereagh
of all means of justifying in the eyes of England * the aban-

1 Text: "la question de la Saxe i celle de la Pologne," = "the question of
Saxony to that of Poland." Var.: "laquestion de la Pologne i celle de la Saxe," =
"the question of Poland to that of Saxony."

2 Text : "en liant" = "in connecting." Var. : " lorsqu'on lie" = "when one
connects." , , ,. ,, , ,

' Text: "ne le serait" = "would not be popular. Var.: "ne le sera, =
" will not be popular. "

* Text: " aax yeux de I'Angleterre," = " in the eyes of England. Var.: "aux
yeux de la nation Anglaise" = "in the eyes of the English nation."

X 2

3o8 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

doning of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw to the Emperor
Alexander.

The king has informed you of the orders which His Majesty
has given ^ to the Minister of War, and which are to place the
army on a footing of Peace.^

T/te portion which I here subjoin by order of the king, and which
has been given to me as authentic, proves how necessary this
measure was, in the midst of the breakers that surround us
Nothing can cause surprise that comes from Prince Metternich,
yet it would all the same be very singular should such a fact not
have been known to you on October 2,1st. Be so good, I beg of you,
never to Tnention from whom. I obtained the paragi'aph which I am
forwarding to you.

lam glad you are content with the services of the Chevalier de
Vernegues. I have known for a long time the zeal he has for the
cause we ourselves serve, as well as his character, which deserves
the highest esteem.

I have given M. d^ Andre a situation on the estates of tJte king ,
it was necessary at first to give him means of subsistence ; but I
think that he will, in the end, be able to serve the king to far more
advantage than in an admijiistration of which the revenue is of
small importance.

P.S. — This letter was partly written before the arrival of your
No. 9, which only proves more and more the necessity of establishing
good te}'ms between ourselves and England on the questions in
which the negotiating parties have an interest?

Be pleased to accept the renewed asstirance of my tinalterable
attachment and of my high consideration.

Blacas d'Aulps.

No. I2A. — The Ambassadors of the King at the Congress
TO the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, November I2ih, 1 814.

Monsieur le Comte,

All the private information that reaches us causes us to
fear that the questions of Poland and Saxony are still in an
unsatisfactory stage, and that what hinders progress is the blind

' Text : "vous a fait connaitre les ordres que sa Majeste a donnes,'' = "has in-
formed you of the orders which his Majesty has given." Var. : "vous a instniit des
ordres que S.M. avait donnes," = "has instructed you concerning the orders which
his Majesty had given."

^ Add.; "I flatter myself tliat tliis resolve, dictated by considerations of which
you feel the force, will not belong in becoming superfluous."

' The latter part of this letter is not found in the text of the record-office of the
ministry of Foreign Affairs.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 309

obstinacy of the Emperor of Russia and of the King of Prussia,
as well as a fatal abandonment on the part of Austria.

A messenger from the King of Saxony, who left Berlin on
the 5 th instant, has brought with him an emphatic protest which
he has communicated to us. This declaration says that the
king will not consent to any exchange, and refuses absolutely to
abdicate. His intention is that this expression of his opinions
should be published. We think that it can only produce a
very good effect, and shall probably forward it to you by the
next messenger for insertion in the Moniteur. The King of
Saxony, since the temporary establishment of a Prussian ad-
ministration, refuses all the proposals which have been offered
him, and has told the Prussian government as much.

Meanwhile, the Grand Duke Constantine has left for Warsaw.
He carries, as we hear, instructions for organizing this new
Poland, which, insignificant as it is in itself, will yet prove a
source of some trouble for its neighbours. Austria has taken
alarm at this ; her cabinet apparently is quite willing to exhaust
all means for turning the Emperor of Russia from his designs,
and severing him from the King of Prussia. Feeling, however,
uncertain of success, she has chosen to march nearly twenty
to twenty-five thousand men to Galicia. These troops are to
reinforce the line which she already has on this frontier ; but
Austria shows no desire to oppose the invasion of Saxony by
means of arms.

Prince Metternich has despatched a messenger to London.
He probably carries an order to Count von Meerveldt to
represent to the British cabinet the extreme importance of
stoutly seconding the advice given by Lord Castlereagh in his
notes to the Emperor of Russia. This minister wishes the Grand
Duchy of Warsaw to remain independent, or at least that the
Vistula be the boundary line between Russia, Prussia, and Austria.
It is on this point that the three powers are still negotiating.
The Emperor Alexander, however, has determined to make one
step further in pursuit of his aim, and is beguiling the King of
Prussia, whom he has advised to commence the organization of
Saxony, as he himself has that of Warsaw.

This conduct sows in Europe the seeds of war, which, at the
present moment, it would be impossible to remove. It will also
furnish elements for long disturbances, and render very difficult
the settling of German affairs.

The result of the last private conference has been to resume
the discussion of Italian affairs.

The Austrian ministry is the more resolved to bring them
to some conclusion, that the Jacobin agitation, making itself

3IO THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

felt in this part of Europe, under the open protection of Murat,
perplexes her. This agitation is backed by Russia and by the
English. Lord William Bentinck^ has sown, in these parts, the
seeds of revolutionary ideas which were intended to thwart
Bonaparte's designs, but, as things now stand, they do more
harm than good.

The incorporation of Geneva to Piedmont will be made, we
believe, by virtue of a capitulation. The Genoese had drawn up
a proposal for a constitution, but of so democratic a character
that it could not be allowed. But the capitulation is so much
the more needed, that the Genoese have a strong repugnance
to this act of submission, and that it is advisable to put down,
as far as possible, the germs of bitterness and discord which
crop up on all sides whenever the union of Belgians and Dutch,
Saxons and Prussians, Italians and Austrians, is introduced.

We have good hopes of being able to restore Parma to the
Spanish succession, and to get one of the legations given to the
Archduchess Marie-Louise. If this exchange can be brought
about, its return to the Holy See will be proposed in the case
of the prince dying without male issue. The fate of Murat
has not yet been broached ; but the embassy of the king will
regard no arrangement as final if the retirement of Murat is
not stipulated for.

Swiss affairs also have not yet been touched upon. It is
believed that the allies propose connecting Switzerland with the
military system of Germany, in order to oppose stronger barriers
to France. The nomination of Herr von Stein, on the part of
Russia, as commissioner appointed for this purpose, may perhaps
lead one to suspect some concealed intentions. But this arrange-
ment would be so strongly opposed to the interests of the
Swiss, that it may be left to them to overthrow it, when it
comes within the range of practical politics.

You will therefore see, Monsieur le Comte, by this brief
description of what is occupying the congress, that no very
great results have as yet been attained, but that private intrigues
have been sufficiently active. On the side of the great powers
these intrigues proceed from two causes : the fear with which
revolutionary France still inspires them, and the secret desire
which they harbour of seeing France restrained within such
limits, that she be rendered unable to regain that influence
which she exerted at certain epochs of her history.

The policy adopted by the king will restore to the country
the confidence which the measures of her last government lost

' It will be remembered that Lord William Bentinck had for several years com-
tiianded a body of English troops in Sicily.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 311

her, and with that the interference of France will be more
sought after than dreaded.

The Comte de Noailles, who was presented to the sovereigns
on his arrival, has collected the observations and sayings which
have come in his way, and which seemed to him worthy of
interest. We have the honour to inclose herewith the report
containing them. They present nothing but what can give
satisfaction.

Be pleased to accept, &c.

No. II. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King Louis XVIII.

Vienna, November \ith, 1814.

Sire,

Prince Metternich and Lord Castlereagh have persuaded
the Prussian ministry to make common cause with them on the
question of Poland. But the hopes built on the concurrence of
Prussia have not been of long duration. The Emperor of Russia,
having engaged the King of Prussia to dine with him a few
days ago, he had a long conversation with him, of which I have
gleaned a few details from Prince Adam Czartoryski. He
reminded him of the friendship which united them, of the high
value he attached to it, of all that he had done to make it last-
ing. Their age being almost the same, it was pleasant to think
that they might, for a long time to come, witness the happiness
which their people would enjoy from their close intimacy. He
had always bound his hopes of fame to the re-establishment of
a kingdom of Poland. When he was almost able to touch the
accomplishment of his wishes, was he to have the mortification
of having to count among his opponents his dearest friend, and
the only prince upon whose sentiments he had counted ? The king
madehim a thousand protestations, and swore to support the Polish
question. " It is not sufficient," continued the emperor, " for you
alone to be of this disposition, your ministers must also conform to
it." And he made the king summon Prince von Hardenberg. He
having arrived, the emperor repeated to him all that he had said,
and the promise that the king had given. Prince von Hardenberg
was about to make some objections, but pressed by the Emperor
Alexander, who asked him if he refused to obey the orders of
his king, and these orders being absolute, there was nothing left
him but to promise to carry them out faithfully. This is all that
I have been able to gather of the scene ; but there were probably
many other particulars, of which I am in ignorance, if it is true,
as Herr von Gentz has assured me, that Prince von Hardenberg
declared " he had never seen the like."

312 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

This change on the part of Prussia has disconcerted greatly
Prince Metternich and Lord Castlereagh. They would have
liked Prince von Hardenberg to have tendered his resignation, and
certainly this could have gravely embarrassed^ the king and the
emperor, but he does not appear to have even thought of it.^

As to myself, believing as I do that Prince Metternich
obtained the concurrence of the Prussians by more concessions
than he avovi^ed, I am inclined to think this defection as good
for us, and your Majesty will see that my presentiments were
only too well founded.

The Grand Duke Constantin, who left two days ago, went to
organize the army of the Duchy of Warsaw. He was also
charged with drawing up a civil organization for the country.
The tenour of his instructions, according to Herr von Anstedt,^
who prepared them, is that the Emperor Alexander will never
withdraw any of his pretensions. The emperor has also
probably engaged the King of Prussia to give likewise
a military and civil organization to Saxony. He is reported to
have said : " From civil organization to ownership is not far." In
a letter which I received from M. de Caraman,* I find that the
brother of the Minister of Finances and several generals have
left Berlin in order to organize Saxony.^ M. de Caraman
adds that, nevertheless, the occupation of Saxony is at present
only represented as temporary, and not definite, at Berlin.

There is yet a further tale, that the Emperor Alexander, after
speaking of the opposition of Austria to his views, and bitterly
complaining of Prince Metternich, said : " Austria believes
herself assured of Italy, but there is there a Napoleon, who
might be found useful " — a saying which I could not guarantee,
but which circulates, and which, if true, would enable one to
form an idea of him who uttered it.

Lord Castlereagh has not yet received a reply to his last
note : • some even believe that the emperor will not deign to
answer it.

While the affairs of Poland and Saxony thus remain in sus-
pense, the ideas, which, in the conference which I had the honour

^ Text: "que celaauraitpu embarrasser,'' = " that this (roa/n' have embarrassed. '
Var.: " que cela az/razV embarrase," = '* this zyf7«/a' have embarrassed. "

^ Text : " raais il ne parait pas y avoir meme pense " = "but he does not appear
to have even thought of it." Var. : " mais il ne parait pas mime y avoir pens^" =
"but he does not appear even to have thought of it."

^ Var. : Herr von Anstetten.

* Victor Ricquet, Marquis, afterwards Due de Caraman, was bom in 1762. In
1814, Louis XVIII. appointed him ambassador at Berlin, and, in the year following,
at Vienna. He was present as plenipotentiary at the different congress of the
Holy Alliance, and created Due in 1828. He died in 1829.

^ Var. : add. civilement et militairement = civilly and militarily organization.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 313

of describing to your Majesty, I had put forward on the organi-
zation of Italy, have borne fruit. The day before yesterday, I
was with Lord Castlereagh, and found him full of it. Prince
Metternich, who dined yesterday with us at the house of M.
de Rasumowski, was no less so. To-day, Lord Castlereagh,
Count Nesselrode, and myself met in order to consider this
question. Lord Castlereagh told me on coming that it would
only be question of this to-day ; that the day after to-morrow,
to-morrow, perhaps in an hour, he would be in a position to
speak to me of Poland and Saxony, but that for the moment
he could not do so. I did not press the point. The discussion
centred round the country of Genoa alone. It was proposed
not to incorporate it with Piedmont, but to give it to the King
of Sardinia \yY ^ capitulation which would insure^ it certain privi-
leges and private institutions. Lord Castlereagh had brought
some memoranda and projects which had been addressed
to him on the subject, and read them to us. He very strongly
insisted on the establishment of a free port, of a bonded ware-
house, and of a transit with defined rights across Piedmont. It
was decided to meet again to-morrow, and summon MM. de
Saint-Marsan and de Brignoles to the meeting.

After the conference, being alone with Prince Metternich, and
desiring to know how he stood with regard to Poland and Saxony,
and what he proposed to do on this subject, in place of putting
him direct questions which he would only have eluded, I spoke
to him of himself, and, assuming the tone of an old friend, I told
him that, while occupied in business affairs, it was yet necessary
to think of oneself, and that it seemed to me he did not do so
sufficiently : that there were matters to which one was forced by
necessity, but that it was indispensable that this necessity be made
plain to everyone ; that one might be acting, as he probably
was, by the most disinterested motives ; but that, if these motives
were unknown to the public, one was yet calumniated, because
in that case, the public could only judge by results ; that he
was exposed to reproaches of all kinds, as, for instance, of
having sacrificed Saxony ; that I sincerely hoped he had not
done so ; but why give pretext for such rumours ? Why not
give his friends the means of defending or justifying him } A
slight unbending on his part was the result of the frankness with
which I spoke to him. He read me his letter to Prussia on the
question of Saxony, and some affectionate^ thanks on my part

^ Text: "qui lui assurat" = "which would* insure it." Var. : "qui lui
assurera" = "which will insure it.''

2 Text: "affectueux" = "affectionate." Van: "assez affectueux" = "j««^-
ciently affectionate."

314

THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

led him to confide it to me. I promised him it should remain
secret. I enclose a copy of it with the letter that I have the
honour to write to your Majesty. I beg of your Majesty to
take great care of it, and to permit me to ask for it again on ,
my return. "^

Your Majesty will see in this letter that Prince Metternich
had promised the Prussians not, as he had assured me a portion
of Saxony, but the whole of it, a promise which he had for-
tunately made dependent on a condition which rendered its
accomplishment impossible.^ Your Majesty will see further by
this note that Prince Metternich abandons Luxemburg to the
Prussians, after having assured me on more than one occasion
that he would not give it to them. This same note reveals
further the project, formed now for some time, of putting
Germany under what they are pleased to call the influence,
and which would really be the absolute dominion, of Prussia
and Austria.

Prince Metternich protests now that he will never abandon
Saxony. As to Poland, he has given me to understand that
he would sacrifice much, which signifies that he would sacrifice'
everything, if the Emperor Alexander refused to yield an
inch. Again I was with him when a report of the state of the
Austrian army was brought to him. He allowed me to see it.
The actual forces of this army are 374,000 men, of whom 52,000
are cavalry, and 800 pieces of cannon. It is while possessing
such an army as this that he thinks the best thing for Austria
to do is to submit to and suffer everything. Your Majesty
will be pleased to remark that the number of the troops is
the effective strength of the army.

I shall not seal the letter which I have the honour to write
to your Majesty till after my return from a conference, to which
I am going this morning.

I have just left the conference. I found m.yself in company
with Count Nesselrode, Prince Metternich, and Lord Castlereagh.
M. de Saint-Marsan was also admitted, to whom notice of the
meeting had been sent. The only question under discussion was
that of the incorporation of Genoa to Piedmont. The peculiarity
of the powers,^ given by the temporary government formed

^ Prince Metternich gave Saxony to Prussia on two conditions: (i) that Prussia
should abandon Russia on the Polish question ; (2) that from the side of the Rhine,
the Mein on one side and the Moselle on the other should be the boundaries between
the states of North and the states of South Germany, an arrangement which com-
pelled Prussia to give up Mayence. Now it is well known that Frederick William
and the Emperor Alexander were very closely united in their views on Poland, and
that, on the other hand, Prussia eagerly coveted Mayence.

^ Text: " Une esptce de pouvoirs donnes" = "the peculiarity of the powers
given." Var. : " une espece de />o!«z'«V a'tJKM^ " = ^^^.Yvad. oi authority given."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 315

some months ago by Lord William Bentinck, caused some
difficulties to arise. They will be removed by trying to establish,
that Genoa is a vacant country. It was determined that the eight
powers should reassemble to-morrow to make a declaration to
this effect, and to give to M. de Brignole, the envoy from
Genoa, a copy of the protocol which shall contain this declar-
ation. There will only remain to decide upon the method of
the incorporation. I availed myself of the conference of to-day
to speak of the succession of Sardinia. M. de Saint-Marsan, as
I had suspected, had received from his court instructions agree-
able to the rights of the house of Carignan. I proposed a word-
ing which acknowledges these rights. M. de Saint-Marsan
adopted and seconded it, and I have every reason for believing
that it will be adopted.

The discussion relative to the affairs of Switzerland will not
be long now in commencing.

I have the honour to be. . . .

No. 7B. — King Louis XVIII. to the Prince de
Talleyrand.

Paris, November x^th, 1814.

My Cousin,

I have received your letter No. 10, and await with
impatience the further details which you promise.

I seize eagerly the hope that you hold out to me for
Saxony, and I believe I can give myself up to it with some
confidence, seeing that Prince Metternich speaks no longer of
his own opinion, but from that of a council. I should certainly
prefer that the kingdom should remain intact, but I think that
its unhappy king may deem himself fortunate if two-thirds or
three-fourths of it are left him.

With regard to the proposed exchange, I do not like, as a
general rule, giving up what belongs to me, still less do I like
robbing another ; and after all, the rights of the Bishop-Prince
of Basel, less important doubtless though they be to the tran-
quillity of Europe, are yet no less sacred than those of the King
of Saxony. If, however, the spoliation of the former of these
princes is inevitable, moved by the twofold consideration of pre-
serving a portion of his estates to the King of Sardinia, and of
rendering a great service to the canton of Bern, I will consent
to the exchange and now send you an authority ad hoc}

^ Var. : For which you will make use in the five following cases, of which
the first is only a rule of conduct for us : — (l) the impossibility of saving the princi-
pality of Basel ; (2) the guarantee to the King of Sardinia of what remains of the

3l6 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Whereupon, my cousin, I pray God that He may have you
in His safe and holy keeping.

Louis.

No. 13A. — The Ambassadors of the King at the Con-
gress TO the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, November 17 th, 18 14.

Monsieur le Comte,

Since the sending off of our last despatch another confer-
ence has been held. It has fixed the fate of Genoa agreeably
to the secret article which incorporates that country to
Piedmont. ^

A commission has been appointed to' settle the conditions
under which this incorporation shall be effected. Austria, France,
and England have been chosen as members of it. It will be com-
posed of Count Wessemberg, the Comte de Noailles and Lord
Clancarty.

Lord Castlereagh has been put to some embarrassment by
the conduct of Lord W. Bentinck at Genoa. This latter had
flattered the Genoese with hopes of a complete independence.
Lord Castlereagh has rather weakly maintained that this admiral
went beyond his powers, and said that it was necessary by all
means to soften to the Genoese the sacrifice which is imposed
upon them. He assured the Deputy of Genoa that he would
procure for his country, all the advantages enjoyed by his
own country, Ireland, and we are curious to see how he will
compensate the State of Genoa for the right of nominating
members for the House of Commons and for the House of Lords,
a prerogative which Ireland enjoys by its incorporation with
Great Britain, and which cannot be given to the Genoese, since
Piedmont possesses no parliament. This fact, and many others,
prove that the noble lord has less studied the complications of
European politics, than he has been struck with the danger to
which a new system of continental blockade would expose his
country.

In this conference, the plenipotentiary of Spain, Count de
Labrador, maintained that it was necessary to leave to the Genoese
the right of forming their own constitution, and that the secret
article gave no right to the King of Sardinia, which had not
signed the treaty of Paris. This minister wished doubtless to

kingdom of Savoy ; (3) restitution of its share of Aargau to the canton of Bern ;
(4) the free exercise of the Catholic religion in the portion of the Gex district
given up to the canton of Geneva; (5) free navigation for France on the lake of
Geneva. On these conditions you may agree to the exchange.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 31%

try, if the desire the Genoese had evinced to become subjects
of the Queen of Etruria could not be realised.

The desire not to change the provisions made by the treaty
of Paris has caused the majority to decide that the incorporation
of Genoa to Piedmont ought to be effected ; and that the act of
submission on the part of this republic to France, and the
cession which was made of it by the treaty of Paris, protected
the principles of the law of nations. We supported this view.

As soon as the report of this conference has been sent to
us we shall have the honour, Monsieur le Comte, to transmit it
to you. '

We address you meanwhile a document ^ which is far more
curious, and which would severely denounce the principles of the
coalition if we had not been witnesses of the embarrassment it
causes, and of the desire which the ministers of the four powers
have of declaring it either apocryphal, or published by a cul-
pable precipitation on the part of Prince Repnin,' Governor
of Saxony.

This document deserves peculiar attention. It proves that in
spite of all the trouble taken, since our arrival at the congress,
to conceal from us the secret machinations of Russia and Prussia,
in spite of the weakness of Prince Metternich and the incapacity
of Lord Castlereagh, we have penetrated from the very first the
deceitful combinations and tortuous path which the ministers of
the four powers have followed, and which, without the intervention
of France, would have destroyed even the possibility of coming
to an agreement on some system of political equilibrium, a system
which, badly conceived perhaps, will yet be under the aegis oi
the general principles which ruled Europe before the Revolution.
The publication of this circular in the German papers has
caused a great deal of vexation to Herr von Stein, who, by his
system of organization in Germany, has made himself the
champion of the union of Saxony and Prussia.

The English and Austrian ministers reproach him for having
spoken of their consent, which they pretend they never gave,
and which, as a matter of fact, they had subjected to very un-

' Prince Repnin, Governor of Saxony, had issued a proclamation, which declared
that that country ought to be given up to Prussia.

2 Nicolas, Prince Repnin-Wolkonski, a Russian general and diplomatist, was a
grandson of the famous field-marshal of that name. Born in 1778, he wfas a colonel
at Austerlitz, and wras taken prisoner in that battle. In 1809, he was appointed
ambassador at Cassel by King Jerome Napoleon. Lieutenant-general in 1813, he
was after the battle of Leipsig, made Governor general of Saxony for the allies, King
Frederick Augustus being considered a prisoner of war. In 1814, he was accredited
with plenipotentiary powers at the Congress of Vienna; after the peace he was
appointed Governor of Little Russia (l8ib) and entered later (1835) into the Council
of the Enipire. He died in 1845.

31 8 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

important conditions. Refutations therefore in several of the
gazettes will soon appear. But it is well that this scandalous
transaction, which lays bare the plots that have been woven
here, should be disclosed.

The minister of Saxony has not yet thought fit to publish
the protest of the king, and will limit himself at present to
announcing it only.

We have the honour to address to you a copy of the circular,
and you will be so kind, Monsieur le Comte, as to get it inserted
in the Moniteur, just as it is here subjoined, addressed to the
ministry of Foreign Affairs. The occupation of Saxony by the
Prussians is beyond all doubt a very grave fault on the part of
the Austrian ministry, and an ignoring of all principle on the
part of Lord Castlereagh ; but it does not yet decide the question,
and we see with satisfaction, that public opinion is very strong
indeed against this measure. Bavaria has declared that she will
never consent to the destruction of the House and people of
Saxony, and that a German League could not be formed out of
such elements. She has renewed her offers to Austria, if this
power will resort to all her forces and adopt a more honest and
candid policy. Wurtemberg seems to be moving in the same
direction.

Public opinion in Austria expresses without reserve, its
disapproval of the execution of this measure, and Prince Metter-
nich is greatly blamed, as neglecting the most important interests
of the monarchy.

Prince Talleyrand has had a third conversation with the
Emperor of Russia, a full account of which he gives in his
special report to the king. He has left no doubt in the emperor's
mind as to the part the king will take in the matter. The
emperor himself was more affable and less autocratic than he
had been at former interviews.

Prussia, for her own part, cannot remain blind to the fact
that this union, carried out in the face of so many difficulties,
might become a source of embarrassment and danger for herself.
The Prussian ministers are therefore trying the effect of nego-
tiation. They appear to be willing to reserve to the King of
Saxony an equivalent, or a part of Saxony enclosing one half
of the population ; but nothing has been agreed to in this
respect on their part. They have even announced, that it would
be sufficient if a Duke of Saxony only were retained.

Prince Talleyrand has proved to the Emperor of Russia,
that 1,600,000 inhabitants must be kept for Saxony, because
Saxony comprises rather more than two million souls, that
she ought to retain all that she has on the left bank of the

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 319.

Eibe, and that her territories on the right bank have smaller I
number of inhabitants, not rising above 500,000 to 600,000 souls.
Pi. little less than 1,600,000 souls might perhaps be agreed to ; and
as England and Austria have not yet abandoned their demand
for fixed limits in Poland, all is still intact, and the final result
of a negotiation which, without the firmness of the ambassadors
of the king, would have been entirely abandoned, cannot yet
be given.

In any case, it will be less important for France to see a part
of Poland sacrificed to Russia, than to see all Saxony destroyed,,
and some Austrian ministers are of opinion that if a sacrifice
must be made on one point or another, Austria ought to be
more compliant on the question of Poland's boundaries, on
condition that Prussia does not gain the advantage of uniting
Saxony to her monarchy.

It is by the combined action of these several interests, and by
a course more conformable to true principle on the part of
England, that we hope that this cause may be definitely settled.

The news from Italy speak of the intrigues of the King of
Naples and of his armaments. We observe here the fear with
which this inspires Prince Metternich. We are informed also,
that the court of Russia has recalled the officer whom she had
accredited at Murat's court, and that the credentials, despatched
to the minister of Russia at Palermo, expressly state that he
is accredited to the King of the Two Sicilies.

A pamphlet, drafted by a certain Filangieri,^ aide-de-camp
of Murat, is circulating here ; it is of a revolutionary and
threatening character. The police have bought it up. Prince
Metternich makes use of the alarm roused, in order to mislead
public opinion with regard to the preservation of Murat on the
throne of Naples. But he is the only one, even of the Emperor
of Austria's ministers, who supports a cause which Europe will
soon treat as it deserves.

The Emperor of Russia has signed the ratifications of the.
treaty made between himself and the King of Denmark, and
they were exchanged yesterday. The Russian troops have now
to evacuate Holstein.

No conclusioiThas yet been come to on Swiss affairs, and
those of the German federation are not very far advanced.

^ Charles Filangieri, Prince de Satriano, Due de Taormina, was born in 1 785, was
a general of Naples, and one of the most devoted officers of Murat. He was badly
wounded in 1815, at the moment of the renewal of hostilities with Austria. He kept
his rank after the restoration of the Bourbons. In J 848 King Ferdinand charged
him with the reduction of Sicily. He succeeded after bloody battles, was appointed
lieutenant-general and governor of the province, but retired shortly afterwards, and
lived in retirement till his death.

320 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Prince Metternich and Prince von Hardenberg have commu-
nicated the general Hne of policy to be followed to Count
Nesselrode, that he may submit it to the emperor. In a reply
dated November ii, Count Nesselrode announces to the cabinets
of Austria and Prussia that Russia approves of the proposed
basis of the federal compact.

We have the honour to address to you this project, as it
was communicated confidentially to us, and such as it is used at
the deliberations of the German Commission. Many changes
have been made in it, chiefly the division into districts, the right

of war and peace We hope to be shown the note of

Count Nesselrode, and shall acquaint the ministry with its
contents.

Be pleased to accept, &c.

No. 12. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King
Louis XVIII.

Vienna, November 17, 1814.

Sire,

Before the Emperor of Russia secured the support of the
King of Prussia, certain persons ^ who were in his confidence
having advised him to turn to the side of France, to come to some
understanding with her, and to see me, he had replied that he would
willingly see me, and that in future, in demanding an audience
of him, I should have to apply, not to Count Nesselrode, but
to Prince Wolkonski, his first aide-de-camp. I told the person
by whom the message had been brought that if I demanded an
audience of the emperor, Austria and England could not ignore
it, that they would take umbrage at it and build besides all sorts
of conjectures on it, and that, in demanding an audience by the
unusual channel of an aide-de-camp, I should give an air of
intrigue to any relations with the emperor, which would suit
neither him nor me. Some days after, having asked why I had
not been to see him, he was told my reasons, and approved of
them, adding: "Then it is I who must attack him first."
Having often the occasion of finding myself with him at the
same meetings, I made it a rule to come across him as little as
possible, or even to go near him, shunning him, in fact, as much
as was compatible with propriety. I was proceeding after
this fashion on Saturday at the house of Count Zichy, where he
was. I had passed almost all the time in the gambling-room,

1 Text: "des personnes" = "certain persons who were in his confidence."
Var. : '' les personnes " = "those persons who were in his confidence."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 321

and, profiting by the moment when every one was advancing to
the tables, I prepared to retire, and had already reached the
door of the antechamber, when, fesling a hand resting on my
shoulder, I turned round, I saw it was that of the Emperor
Alexander. He asked me why I had not gone to see him ?
when he should see me ? what was I doing on Monday ? He
told me to gp to him on that day at 1 1 a.m. ; to go there in
evening dress ; to resume the custom of wearing evening dress
with him ; and, while saying this, he took my arms and pressed
them in a friendly way.

I was careful to inform Prince Metternich and Lord Castle-
reagh of what had passed, in order to remove all idea of mystery,
and to prevent all suspicion on their part.

I went to the emperor at the hour indicated.

" I am very pleased to see you," he said ; " and you also
wished to see me, did you not ? "

I replied that it was with regret that I found myself in the
same place as he, and yet saw him so seldom. After which the
conversation began.

" How are affairs now, and what is your position in
them ? "

"Always the same, sire. If your Majesty is willing to put
Poland in a state of complete independence, we are ready to:
second you."

" I desired at Paris the restoration of Poland, and you.,
approved of it. I desire it still, as a man, and as being
always faithful to liberal ideas, which I •will never abandon. .But
in my position, the desires I have as a man cannot guide me as
a sovereign. Perhaps the day will come when Poland will be
set again on a footing of complete independence. At present it
cannot be thought of."

" If it is only a question of the partition of the Duchy of
Warsaw, that concerns Austria and Prussia far more than our-
selves. These two powers once satisfied on this point, we shall
be satisfied too : so long as they are not satisfied, it is for us to
support them, and it is our duty to do it, because Austria has
allowed difficulties to spring up which could easily have been
prevented."

"How so.?"

" In demanding, at the time of her alliance with you, that
the part of the Duchy of Warsaw which had belonged to her
might ^ be occupied by her troops. You would certainly not

' Text : "En demandant, lors de son alliance avec vous, i faire occuper" = as
translated. Var. ; " 'En demaniiatit i Jaire, lors de son 3Wi3.nce avec -vous, oceujier"
= order of words different ; no alteration in sense.

VOL. II. Y

322 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

have refused it, and if she had occupied this district, you would
never have thought of ousting her from it."
" Austria and I are in agreement now."
" That is not what is publicly believed."

" We are agreed on the principal points : it is only a question
of a few villages now."

|. " France takes only a second place in this question : in that
'of Saxony she takes the first."

" As a matter of fact, the question of Saxony is for the house
lof Bourbon — a family question."

" By no means, sire. In the affair of Saxony there is no
question of any private individual, or of a private family : it is a
question in which all the kings have an interest ; it is a question
of the first interest for your Majesty as well ; for your first
interest is to take care of this personal glory which your Majesty
has acquired, and whose brilliance flashes across your empire.
Your Majesty owes it this consideration not only for yourself,
but yet more for your country, whose patrimony it has now
become. You will put a sanction on it by protecting it, and by
making those principles respected which are the foundation of
public order and of the security of all men. I speak to you,
sire, not as minister for France, but as a man who is sincerely
attached to your person."

" You speak of principles, and one of the first principles is that
a man should keep his word of honour, and I have given mine."
" Obligations are of various kinds, and that which your
Majesty took towards Europe in passing the Niemen ought to be
of far more weight than any other. Permit me, sire, to add that
the intervention of Russia in the affairs of Europe is generally
looked upon with an eye of jealousy and suspicion, and that if
this has lately in some degree been allowed, it is solely owing to
the personal character of your Majesty. It is therefore necessary
that this character should remain what it has always been."

" That is an affair which concerns me alone, and of which I
am the sole judge."

" Pardon, sire, but when one is a historic personage,^ one
has the whole world forjudge."

" The King of Saxony is a man of unworthy character : he
has broken his pledge more than once."

" He never gave any to your Majesty : he never gave any
except to Austria. She alone therefore has the right to reproach
him ; and, on the contrary, I know that the projects formed on

' Text: " quand on est homme de I'histoire '' = "wh;n one is a historic person-
age.'" Var. : "quand oa est I'liommc de I'histoire " = "when one is thi historic

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 323

Saxony have caused the Emperor of Austria the most genuine
grief — a thing which your Majesty ignores most certainly : other-
wise, Hving, as your family and yourself do, with him and even
in his palace for the last two months, you would never have
caused him that grief These very projects also grieve and alarm
the people of Vienna : I have fresh proofs of this every day."

" But Austria is abandoning Saxony."

" Prince Metternich, whom I saw yesterday evening, showed
me inclinations of a different direction from that which your
Majesty does me the honour to mention."

"And you yourself.' It is said that you would agree to
yielding up a part .' "

" We shall only do it with the greatest regret. But if, in
order that Prussia may have a population equal to that which
she had in 1806, and which amounted to some 9,200,000 souls,
it is necessary to give from 300 to 400 thousand Saxons, it is a
sacrifice which we will make for the sake of peace."

"And that is just what the Saxons fear the most. They
demand nothing better than to belong to the King of Prussia :
all that they desire is not to be divided."

" We are within range for knowing ^ what is going on in
Saxony, and we know that the Saxons are driven to despair at
the idea of becoming Prussians."

" No ; all that they fear is being divided, and that is, as a
matter of fact, the most unfortunate thing that can befall a
nation."

" Sire, suppose we apply this mode of reasoning to Poland ! "

" The division of Poland is not my doing. It is not
my fault if the evil be not repaired : I have told you that
perhaps it will be one day. — The giving up of the two
Lusatias would not, properly speaking, be a division of Saxony ;
they were never incorporated with it ; they were till quite recent
times a fief dependent on the crown of Bohemia ; they had
nothing in common with Saxony, save the bare fact of having been
possessed by the same sovereign.^ Tell me is it true that armies
are being prepared in France?" (In putting this question the
emperor came so close to me, that his face almost touched mine.)

' Text: "de savoir" = "for knowing." Var. : "de connaitre'' = "for being
acquainted."

* Lusalia is a province of Germany situated between the Elbe and the Oder, to
the north of Bohemia and to the south of Brandenburg. It was divided into upper
and lower Lusatia, each one governed by a margrave. The Lusatias formed originally
part of the kingdom of Bohemia, from which they were detached in 1231 by King
Ottokar, who gave them as a dowry to his daughter at her marriage with the Margrave
of Brandenburg. They nevertheless returned to the King of Bohemia in the following
century. In 1635, the Emperor Ferdinand II. detached this province afresh from
Bohemia, and gave it definitely to the Duke of Saxony, Johan-Georg.

Y 2

324 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

"Yes, sire."

" How many troops has the king ?"

" One hundred and thirty thousand men under arms, and
three hundred thousand, dismissed to their homes, but ready to
be called out on the first necessity."

" How many of them are being mustered now ?

"As many as are necessary to maintain peace. We have by
turns felt the need of having no army at all and the need of
having one. Of having no army at all when it was Bonaparte's,^
and of having one when it was the king's. For this it was
necessary to dissolve and recompose, to disarm at first, and then
to arm again, and that is what at this moment we have just
finished doing. Such is the aim of our actual armaments. They
menace none, but when all Europe, is under arms, it was thought
fit that France should be so too, in a fitting proportion."

" That is well. I hope that these matters may lead to a
closer union between France and Russia. What are the desires
of the king in this respect ? "

"The king will never forget the services which your Majesty
has rendered him, and will always be ready to acknowledge
them, but he has his duties as sovereign of a great country, and
as head of one of the most powerful and ancient houses of
Europe. He could not abandon the House of Saxony. In case
of necessity he wishes us to protest ; Spain, Bavaria, and other
states as well, would protest also."

" Listen. Let us strike a bargain. Give way to me on the
question of Saxony, and I will do the same for you on that of
Naples. I have given no promise there."

" Your Majesty knows that such a bargain is not feas-
ible. There is no similitude between the the two questions.
It is impossible for your Majesty not to have the same wants
with regard to Naples as ourselves."

" Ah 1 well, then persuade the Prussians to give me back my
word."

" I see very few Prussians,^ and should certainly fail to
persuade them. Your Majesty can do so. You have every in-
fluence over the mind of the king ; you can always content
them."

" How .? "

" By leaving them a little more of Poland."

" It is a singular proposal you make me : you wish me tg
take something, in order to give it to them 1 " 4,

'Text: "Bonaparte."' Var. : "Buonaparte."
Text: "fort peu de Prussiens" = "very few Prussians." Var.: "fort pea
les Prussiens " = " I see the Prussians but very little."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 3:;

The interview was here interrupted by the Empress of
Russia, who came to visit the emperor. She was pleased to
make some polite remarks to me. She only remained a few
minutes, and then the emperor said, " Let us continue."

I recapitulated briefly the points on which I could, and
those on which I could not, come to an agreement with him, and
■concluded by saying that I must insist on the kingdom of
Saxony being preserved with sixteen hundred thousand
inhabitants.

" Yes," said the emperor, " you insist a good deal on a question
which has been already decided." But he did not pronounce this
last word in a tone which showed an unalterable determination.

His aim in calling me to him had been to know :

1. What the armaments were which he had heard were
being prepared in France, and with what views they were being
prepared. I believe I answered him in such a manner as -to free
him from all suspicion of being threatened by them himself, and
yet '^ so as not to leave him too great a feeling of security.

2. Whether your Majesty would be disposed to form an
alliance with him one day. Unless he renounce his lust of
conquest, which is most improbable, I do not see how it will be
possible for your Majesty, animated by riie conservative spirit
to ally yourself with him, except in an extraordinary case, and
for a temporary end. But it was not convenient, if he desired
this, to deprive him of the hope of it, and I had to avoid doing so.

3. What was our exact determination with regard to Saxony.
In this respect I left him so few doubts, that he said to the
Comte de Nesselrode, from whom I learnt it : " The French have
made up their minds on the question of Saxony ; but let
them arrange with Prussia if they can. They would like to take
some of my possessions and give them to her ; but that is what
I will never agree to."

I have reported this interview with so many details in order
to show your Majesty how his tone has changed since the
last interview I had with him. Throughout the whole interview
he gave no single sign of irritation or bad humour, all was calm
and pleasant.

He has certainly the interests of Prussia less at heart, and is
less tied by his friendship to the king, than embarrassed by
the promises he has made ; and I really beUeve that, in spite
of the chivalrous character he affects, and slave as he wishes to
be thought to his word, he would be delighted, at the bottom of
his heart, could he find an honest pretext for disengaging

' Text ; " cependant, i ne pas laisser" = "yet so as not to leave him." Var. :
"de fajon 4 ne pas laisser"= "in such a manner as not to leave him."

326 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND. ''^

himself. I am the more led to this opinion by a conversation
he had with Prince von Schwarzenberg, and which I believe
contributed no little to the desire he had to see me. He asked
him how their affairs ^ stood, and pressed him to give him his
opinion, not as Austrian minister, but as a friend. After
defending himself from replying^ for some time. Prince Schwar-
zenberg said shortly that his conduct towards Austria had been
neither frank nor even loyal, that his claims tended to putting
the Austrian monarchy into considerable danger, and matters
into a position which would render war inevitable. That if war
should not break out now, (either from respect for the recent *
alliance, or from fear of showing themselves to Europe in the
character of fools who could foresee nothing, and who had put
, themselves by a blind confidence at the mercy of events), it
iwould infallibly come in a period varying from eighteen months
Ito two years hence. Thereupon it escaped the emperor to say : —
' " If only I had not gone so far ! But," added he, " how can
I free myself.'' You see in what a position I am ; it is impossible
for mc to retract."

At the same time that Prince von Schwarzenberg was repre-
senting war as inevitable sooner or later, a body of troops,
despatched by Austria to Galicia, apparently seemed to indicate
that it might soon be proclaim.ed. The cabinet of Vienna means
to rouse itself from its lethargy. Prince Metternich has spoken to
Prince von Wreda of an alliance, asking if, from the present
time, Bavaria would not join twenty-five thousand men to the
Austrian forces, to which Prince von Wr^da replied that Bavaria
would willingly join seventy-five thousand men, but on the
following conditions : —

1st. That the alliance be concluded with France;

2nd. That Bavaria should furnish twenty-five thousand men
and no more, for every hundred thousand that Austria should
put into the field ;

3rd. That if England granted subsidies to Austria, Bavaria
should receive a part proportionate to their respective forces.

I believe that at bottom these are only simple projects ; but
it is much that England * should determine to make them, and
must naturally cause in the Emperor Alexander the desire to
know what he had to fear, or to hope for, from us.

Knowing his custom, when speaking to those who are opposed

1 Text: " leurs affaires " = "their affairs.'' Var. : " A'j affaires " = "affaire."

2 Text: " de repondre"= "from replying." Var. : "de romprc" = "from
breaking off."

' Text: "alliance recente" = "recent alliance.'' Var. : "alliance naissante*'
=: " dawning alliance."

* Text: "Angleterre" = "England." Var. : " Autriche" = "Austria."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 327

to his wishes, of affirming that he has come to some agreement
with others, and not wishing that my conversation with him
should be made known under a false light, I profited by an
interview paid me by Herr von Sickingen to inform the Emperor
Alexander of my views through him. The emperor has revealed
them to Prince Metternich, and by what he told him, I see that
Herr von Sickingen has been a faithful mediator. This con-
fidence has produced the best effect The widespread sentiments
of suspicion of which we have been the mark during the first
days of our stay here, is weakening every day, and the contrary
feeling increasing.

On my return from the Emperor Alexander, I found the
minister of Saxony in my rooms, who came to inform me of: —

1st. A protest of the King of Saxony, which this Prince had
sent to him, with the command to lay it before the council ; but
only after having consulted ^ Prince Metternich, to whose advice
he was to conform ;

2nd. A circular of Prince Repnin, who was governor-general
of Saxony for the Russians. This paper, of which I inclose a
copy in my despatch to the department, that it may be printed
in the Moniteur, was the cause of the king's protest, which can
only be printed after having been laid before congress. I shall
then only have a copy of it.^

This circular, by which Prince Repnin announces to the
Saxon authorities that in consequence of a convention concluded
on September 27, the Emperor Alexander, according to the
expressed wish of England'an'd^Austria, had ordered the adminis-
tration of Saxony to be handed over to the delegates of the

'Text: "apres avoir consulte" = "after having consulted." Var. : "apres
avoir communique" = "after having communicateii."

- The following is the circular : — " A letter of the Minister, Baron von Stein,
dated October 21, has informed me of a convention concluded September 28 at
Vienna, by virtue of which his Majesty the Emperor of Russia, in concert with
England and Austria will put the administration of the kingdom of Saxony into the
hands of the King of Prussia. I am ordered to hand over the government of this
country to the representatives of his Majesty the King of Prussia, and to replace the
imperial Russian troops by those of Prussia, in order to eifect the union of Saxony and
Prussia, which will shortly take place in a more formal and solemn manner, and to
establish a closer fraternity between the two nations. After the preliminary delibera-
tions, of which the aim is the well-being of the two parties, their Majesties have
declared the following : King Frederick William, in his quality of future sovereign of
the country, has declared that he will not incorporate Saxony as a province of his
btates, but will unite it to Prussia under the title of the kingdom of Saxony, will
preserve it always in its integrity, will leave it the enjoyment of its rights, privileges,
and advantages which the constitution of Germany will preserve for those parts of
Genrtany which form part of the Prussian monarchy, and so far will change nothing
of its actual constitution. And his Majesty the Emperor Alexander has witnessed the
special satisfaction he feels on account of this declaration." (Moniteur, November
IS, 18 14. See also on the ceremony of the delegation of the powers of Prince Repnin
to the Prussian authorities, the Moniteur, November 24.)

328 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

King of Prussia, who must in the future be in possession of this
country, not as a province of his kingdom, but as a separate
kingdom which he has promised to maintain in its integrity, has
put Prince Metternich and Lord Castlsreagh in the greatest
embarrassment, and roused the most lively complaints on their
parts.

It is quite true that their consent has been abused in the most
odious manner, being misrepresented, and declared absolute,
when it was purely conditional ; and this justifies their com-
plaints. But it is not less true, that they have given a consent
which they bitterly repent having given.

Your Majesty already has the note of Prince Metternich.

I have to-day the honour of forwarding you that of Lord
Castlereagh, which I only received two days ago, and then only
on condition of my promising to keep it in the utmost secrecy.
This is why I address it immediately to your Majesty. 1 am
told that Lord Castlereagh is trying to get it back from the
Prussians.

This note confirms all that I have had the honour of inform-
ing your Majesty for the past six weeks, and reveals more than
I could possibly have believed, if it did not in itself represent
incontestable proofs of its assertions.

However strange the letter of Prince Metternich may have
been, as soon as one compares it with that of Lord Castlereagh,
the differences that exist between the two are all in favour of the
former. Prince Metternich tries- to persuade Prussia to give up
her views on Saxony. He exposes the moral and political '
reasons which make it repugnant to him to give his consent,
and while giving it, declares it to be necessity which drags it
from him.

Lord Castlereagh, on the contrary, after expressing a lively
and perfectly barren pity for the royal family of Saxony, declares
that he has no moral or political repugnance to giving Saxony
to Prussia.^

Prince Metternich only consents on the ground that Prussia

' The following is what Lord Castlereagh, in a note addressed to Prince von
Hardenberg, says of Saxony : — ** As to the question of Saxony, I swear to you that
if the incorporation of the whole of this country in the Prussian monarchy be
necessary to assure a sufficiently great advantage for Europe, whatever pain I micrht
personally experience at seeing such an old family in such misfortunes, I could nourish
no moral or political repugnance to the measure itself. If ever sovereign has placed
himself in a position in which it was necessary for the future tranquillity of Europe that
he should be sacrificed, I believe it is the King of Saxony, by his perpetual shuffling,
and because he has been not only the most devoted, but also the mosL favoured vassal
of Buonaparte, contributing with all his power, and with the greatest eagerness in his
two-fold position, of head of the German and Polish states, to spreading the general
slavery into the very heart of Russia."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 329

will have suffered losses for which it will be impossible to
compensate her in any other manner.

Lord Castlereagh, on the contrary, only consents in order that
Prussia may preserve that, for the loss of which Prince Metter-
nich would compensate him. He wishes Saxony to be so much
increase of power for her, and not an equivalent for something
lost

Thus they both subordinate the question of Saxony to that
of Poland, but in senses absolutely different, which shows how
little agreement one with another these closely united allies have,
and this after crying out so loudly that France wanted to divide
them.

Meanwhile they are understood to disavow the circular of
Prince Repnin, and I believe it will not be recognized even by
the Prussians themselves.

For the rest, it seems to me to be difficult for forgetfulness —
if it is not contempt — of the most common principles and
notions of healthy politics to be carried further than it has been
in this note of Lord Castlereagh.

He came yesterday to invite me to dinner, and to appoint an
interview for to-day. I was expecting some confidence or
important disclosure ; he merely spoke of his dilemma. Deceived
in the hopes he had built on Prussia, and seeing his policy for
this reason overthrown from its basis, he has fallen into a kind
of depression. He came to consult me as to the means of giving
a spur to affairs, to make them advance more speedily. I told
him that the Emperor Alexander pretended to be at one with
Austria on the Polish question, and that there only remained
some details to regulate ; that if this were so, the best thing to do
in my opinion, was to get Austria to terminate this arrangement
as soon as possible ; that they had wished to subordinate ^ the
question of Poland to that of Saxony, and it had not succeeded ;
that it was therefore necessary to separate them, and terminate
that of Poland first; that Austria, tranquil on this side, and
no more obliged to trouble herself about the two questions,
would devote her entire attention to that of Saxony, which all
the Austrian generals considered to be by far the most important
of the two ; that Russia, once satisfied on the question which
interested her directly, would probably trouble herself very little
about the other, and that Prussia, finding herself alone face to
face with England, Austria, France and Spain, the affair would
be easily and quickly arranged.

The circular of Prince Repnin has been the signal awaited by

^ Text : " qu'ils avaient voulu subordonner " = " that they had wished to subor-
dinate." Var. : "qu'ils avaient subordontu" = " that they had subordinated."

330 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Bavaria for declaring that she would consent to no arrangement,
and would enter no German league, were the conservation of
the kingdom of Saxony not first vouched for. This is what
Prince vonWreda positively declared to Prince von Hardenberg,
who, though saying that he could take no responsibility on
himself and must refer to the king on the matter, has yet given
it to be understood that the King of Saxony could be retained
with a million subjects.

Thus all is yet in suspense. But the chances of saving a
great part of Saxony have increased.

I had proceeded so far in my letter, when I received that with
which your Majesty has deigned to honour me dated November 9,
and that which you were so kind as to get the Comte de Blacas
to write me.

Your Majesty will judge by Lord Castlereagh's letter which
I have the honour to inclose, either, that this minister has
instructions of which the Duke of Wellington is ignorant, or that
he does not believe himself bound by those which have been
given him, and that if he made the question of Saxony depend
on that of Poland, it is in precisely the opposite sense to
that which the Dwke supposed.

As to what concerns Naples, I have described to your Majesty
the proposal which Prince Metternich brought forward, in one of
those conferences at which only himself, Lord Castlereagh, Count
Nesselrode and myself were present, viz., that of only discussing
this affair after the congress, and my reply. (It is in No. 10 of
my correspondence that you will find this detail.) The threats
contained in the letter of which M. de Blacas has sent an extract,
are found, it is said, in a pamphlet published by an aide-de-camp
of Murat named Filangieri, who was quite recently still at Vienna.
(This pamphlet has been suppressed by the police.) But I hope
that if Italy is once organised" Irom the Alps to the frontier of
Naples, as I have proposed, these threats will cease to excite fear.

I waited before closing my letter till I had returned from a
conference which had been appointed for this evening at eight
o'clock. But nothing was done except to read and sign the
protocol of the last meeting.

The Emperor of Russia is sufficiently indisposed to be
obliged to keep his bed, but it is nothing more serious than an
indisposition.

I have the honour to be, &c.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 331

No. 8 B. — King Louis XVIII. to the Prince de
Talleyrand.

Paris, November '22, 1814.

My Cousin,

I have received your despatch, No. 11. It would furnish
me with ample matter for reflection, if I had not forbidden
myself this indulgence when it cannot serve to my own satis-
faction.

The conversation which the Comte Alexis de Noailles has
heard from the mouth of the princes with whom he has con-
versed, has given me great pleasure. I was especially struck
with that of the King of Bavaria : but what good would ^ these
dispositions serve, if they were not backed by Austria and
England .' Now, I am very much afraid, in spite of the mar-
vellously clever manner in which you have spoken to Prince
Metternich, in spite of tlie conditions mentioned in the note of
October 22 having been carried out, both Poland and Saxony
will be abandoned. In this misfortune, there would always
remain to my unlucky cousin, his constancy in adversity, and to
me (for I am more resolved on it than ever) the comfort of
never having participated by any consent whatever in such
iniquitous robberies.

I put great faith in the proposal attributed to the Emperor
Alexander on the subject of Italy ; it is, in that case, of the
highest importance that Austria and England be well convinced
of the truth of the adage, trivial perhaps, but full of sense, and
above all eminently applicable to the situation :

" Sublata causa, tollitur effectus,"

I am more content with the turn of affairs in Italy : the
union of Genoa, and the male succession of the House of Savoy,'
are two important points, but what is more important than all,
is, that in spite of the boasting, perhaps in reality too well
founded, by Murat in his gazettes, the kingdom of Naples
should return to its legitimate sovereign.

Whereupon, my cousin, I pray God may have you in His
safe and holy keeping.

Louis.

Text: "que serviraient" = "what good would they ssrve." Van: "que
serviront " ■= " what good will they serve."

' Text : " de la maison " = "of the House." Var. : " dans la maison" = "itt
the House."

332 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

No. 14 A. — The Ambassadors of the King at the
Congress to the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, November 23, 1814.

Monsieur le Comte,

We have the honour to forward you a copy of the report of
the last sitting. We have met since, to adjust and sign it, but
have transacted no further business.

Count de Labrador on this occasion further called attention
to the rights of the Queen of Etruria, and asked that, when
the arrangement of affairs in Italy should be treated, this should
have some attention. Prince Metternich told him that he was
prepared to discuss the matter, and waited for Count de Labrador
to read him his memoranda. The ambassador of Spain will
forward it one of these days.

If the words of Prince Metternich could inspire the least
confidence, one would be justified in believing that he found the
Archduchess Marie-Louise sufficiently strengthened by having
obtained the State of Lucca, which brings in a revenue of
from five to six hundred thousand francs, and that, for the time
being, the Legations could be restored to the Pope, and Parma
to the Queen of Etruria. But we are informed that while he
gives utterance to this opinion, the Archduchess Marie-Louise,
following the invitation of the emperor, her father, has had the
arms of her carriages and seals changed, and is effacing the
imperial arms of Bonaparte, in order to substitute those of
Parma.

The Comte de Noailles, whose business it is to follow the
Italian negotiations, has received an order from Prince Talleyrand
not to admit any arrangements which may be determined on,
except as provisional dispositions, which will only be sanctioned by
a formal guarantee, when all present a general and satisfactory
system. This precaution was the more necessary, because we
see Prince Metternich second with every day more and more
heat and obstinacy, the cause of Murat. He does it under
pretext of the danger that would accrue from provoking Murat
to a revolutionary war. Prince Metternich, by himself proclaim-
ing him head of the Jacobins in Italy, exaggerates his influence,
and will not allow that in order to paralyse the danger which
this fermentation presents, it will be sufficient to get rid of the
principal mover in it. The fact is, he is unwilling to do violence
to his affections for Madame Murat, and believes that in preserving
this family on the throne, he will be able to arrange as he likes all
his designs on Italy. It is therefore necessary for the Comte de
Noailles to use this reserve, when the signing of the articles for

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 333

the incorporation of Genoa and Piedmont, shall be introduced.
For the rest, the succession of the House of Carignan has been
stipulated for, and is no longer likely to give rise to any
objection.

Things being in this state, that the important questions con-
cerning Poland and Saxony, are hindering the progress of
affairs, and we do not believe that their solution has made much
progress during the last eight days. The circular of Prince
Repnin has been the motive for rather firm letters from
Lord Castlereagh and the cabinet of Vienna, to the Prussian
cabinet, in which it is declared that the union of Saxony
will only be admitted conditionally, as stated in the letters sent
on the occasion of the temporary occupation of Saxony by
Prussian troops, and that if Prussia would not co-operate in
establishing Poland's limits in the interests of the three powers,
the concession made with regard to Saxony would have to be
regarded as null and void.

Lord Castlereagh and Prince Metternich have gone further
still. They are persuaded that if the Emperor of Russia and
the King of Prussia refuse these overtures, it will be necessary
to make preparations for enforcing more moderation on them.

We are, in fact, assured that military measures have been
concerted, and a plan of campaign discussed between the
Austrian and Bavarian leaders. The co-operation of France is
considered necessary for this. But neither Prince Metternich,
nor Lord Castlereagh, have thought fit to speak of it, nor to
have it mentioned to the plenipotentiaries of the king at the
congress.

One might well be astonished, could one once be convinced
that all these military measures bore a character other than that
of simple demonstrations, at the kind of measures by which
Prince Metternich so often aids his politics. There are even
some people, who have the reputation of being well informed,
who believe that Lord Castlereagh and Prince Metternich
have not yet decided upon any definite policy on this subject,
and that they are afraid of being compelled to mix in such
matters.

Meanwhile Lord Castlereagh, whether it is that he feels it
necessary to oppose some barrier to the Russian and Prussian
intrigues, or that public opinion in England and throughout
Germany has made him change his policy and system, appears
to have decided on provoking war with Russia, if she does not
moderate her pretensions, and he has spoken of it to some,
affirming that England would furnish the necessary subsidies.
This minister and Prince Metternich himself, owing to suspicions

334 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

SO gratuitously levelled at France, and the fears nourished that
an alliance with this power would compromise the situation of
Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine, will not appeal to
France save in the last extremity. We even think that, if it
is possible for them to avoid it, they will do so, and you may be
quite sure, Monsieur le Comte, that we shall not provoke them
to it.

For the rest, experience has already taught these powers that
they cannot dismiss the intervention of France, and that
she does them more good than harm in settling the affairs of
Europe.

On our arrival here, the desire of ousting France from all
share in the deliberations was manifest. She shares now in all
that concerns Italy and Switzerland ; she will intervene to great
advantage in the territorial divisions of Germany, and we should
not be astonished if the arrangements relative to Poland were
only made when she consented. To hinder her from so doing,
and to contradict us, the enemies of France have for some days
been spreading the most absurd reports as to her interior
situation ; and what has astonished us greatly is, that these
rumours are repeated in the diplomatic correspondence of the
English and Austrian legations at Paris. Amongst these asser-
tions maintained with some cleverness, we mention one, to the
effect that the king would not be in a position to make use of his
army. She has been able to combat it by the communication of
a letter to the Coi^ite Dupont,^ who speaks of the state of the
army in most satisfactory and positive terms, and that too with-
out leaving the slightest opportunity for reply. The other asser-
tions'will all fall into oblivion, when time shall have unveiled the
intrigue.

The affairs of Germany suffer in the same way as all
the others, from the delays caused by the decisions of the
Emperor of Russia, and here, as elsewhere, he seeks to interfere,
in order to further Hs main views.

We have had the honour of informing you that the project of
federation in twelve articles, which we have addressed to you in
our last despatch of the i6th, has been modified in its principal
articles. The Austrian and Prussian cabinets had imparted it
from the time of its first drafting to the cabinet of Russia.
This communication remained without reply. But in order
from the first to flatter and gain the good opinion of German}',
which pronounced itself so strongly against the union of Prussia
and Saxony, the Russian cabinet thought fit to take away the
possibility of intervention in German affairs, and Count Nessel-
' General Dupont, who was then Minister of War.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 335

rode gave a reply of which we here subjoin the copy. If the
great alliance is broken in consequence of the affairs of Poland,
this letter will of course be invalid.

It cannot, in general, escape us that the real embarrass-
ment of the allied powers at the congress is owing to the
illusion they entertain, in thinking that they can regulate the
affairs of Europe on bases which they have declared settled,
but which are not so as yet.
Be pleased to accept, &c

No. 15 A. — The Ambassadors of the King at the Con-
gress TO THE Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, November 24, 1814.

Monsieur le Comte,

We enclose with the despatch dated yesterday, a letter,
which one of the principal men of the Office of Foreign Affairs of
this country addressed to the Due de Dalberg, pointing out to
him an article in the Gazette de France which has caused a great
sensation, and whose admission by the censorship is difficult to
explain, if, as the author of the letter remarks, it was wished to
reconcile public opinion with the persecutors and spoilers of
Saxony.^

^ The following is the article : — " After long indecision, the fate of Saxony seems
to be definitely fixed. King Frederick- Augustus descends from the throne ; his terri-
tories are shared between Austria, Prussia, and the Duke of Saxe-Weimar. Many a
voice will be raised to deplore the instability of human affairs. Some reflective
spirits will meditate on the impenetrable decrees of that eternal Providence which,
according to the expression borrowed from Scripture by one of our greatest poets
(Racine, Alhalie, acteiii.) : ' Frappe et guerit, perd et ressuscite.' Some will see
in the fall of the reigning house nothing less than a revolution ; others will see in it
a return to order. It is for the first of these that a glance on the origin and division
of this illustrious family will not be without interest.

" The second elector, Frederick the Courteous, or the Peaceful, who died in 1464,
left two sons, of whom the eldest, Ernest, was the stem of the Ernestine branch, and
the younger Albert, of the Albertine branch. By virtue of the recognized right of
primogeniture, Johan-Frederick, sixth elector, reigned, without ha\'ing his rijjhts con-
tested, when the troubles excited by the famous league of Smalcalde broke over the
empire. Charles V., with a powerful army, commanded by the celebrated Due
d'Albe, marched against the confederates. The battle of Muhlberg, fought in 1547,
was decisive. Johan-Frederick, the soul of the league, fell into the power of the
emperor, who used his victory cruelly. A court-martial, presided over by the inflex-
ible Spanish general, dared to condemn to death the Elector of Saxony as u rebel to
the imperial power. This introduced an entirely new legislation into the German
empire. The illustrious prisoner, after having heard the reading of his arrest, con-
tinued qtiietly his game of chess with Prince Ernest of Brunswick : ' It is less my
life, than my electorate, that they envy,' said he. The event showed that he was not
deceived: Charles V. gave him his life, but at the Diet of Augsburg in 1548, he
deprived him of his electoral dignity, in order to clothe Due Maurice of Saxony,
in it, head of the younger or Albertine branch. The unhappy Jean-Frederic was

336 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

In a situation so important as that in which the fate of this
sovereign is placed, in the midst of most difficult debates on
such a question, how have those who direct the journals been

left only the little town of Gotha, where he was kept in honourable captivity. More
deserving of pity even than he, his son, accused of having tried to re-enter the palace
of his fathers, at Dresden, was arrested and conveyed to Vienna as a common
criminal.

' ' Although indebted for his renewed political existence to the protection of Charles
v., the usurper Maurice greedily seized the occasion of showing in favour of
Lutheranism that zeal which had served him as a pretext in the spoliation of the
legitimate elector. He aided the Protestants, concluded a secret alliance with Henry
III., King of France, fell upon the emperor, and was on the point of taking possession
of his person by force in the defiles of Tyrol. He forced the treaty of Passau from
him in 1552.

" Since this time, the Albertine branch has preserved the electorate, whilst the
eldest or Ernestine branch, reduced to very straitened circumstances, split up into a
a great number of branches. As many as fourteen have been counted. There are
only six extant now. The first is that of Weimar ; the due of this name is therefore
the direct and natural heir of the Elector Johan-Frederick, who was so violently and
unjustly robbed by Charles V.

"In spite of the lapse of time, the titles of his descendants have never sunk into
oblivion. On the short appearance he put in at Rastadt, Buonaparte said one day to
the minister of the Elector of Saxony, with that bluntness that was habitual to
him : ' When then does your master intend restoring the electorate to the Ernestine
branch?'*

" It was however the same man who wished this prince later on to take the title
of king.

"From that day date all the misfortunes of Frederick Augustus; surrounded,
enchained, he was obliged to forget that he was a German, that he might make
common cause with the oppressor of Germany. The wild expedition of Moscow
showed princes and people the moment of their deliverance. The King of Saxony
retired to Bohemia, and there on neutral territory at length rejoiced in his liberty, and
is said to have solemnly united his efforts with those of the liberators of Europe.
Motives, which we will not here discuss, induced him to change his resolution.

" Napoleon, a fugitive, abandoned him, without any resources to fall back upon,
to the vengeance of the allies. Frederick Augustus demanded to see them ; if we
are to believe the unanimous report of the public papers, his request was refused.

" Public opinion, unanimous as it was on the subject of the private virtues of this
prince, is singularly divided as to his public conduct. One party assign an indelible
crime to him, in his constancy to his alliance with the enemy of the human race ;
others are tempted to see in him the instrument used by Providence for prolonging
the blindness of Napoleon. As a matter of fact, by putting his fortresses and troops
at his disposal, the King of Saxony inspired him with the foolish hope of preserving
the Elbe as a boundary. Whilst he was pleasing his fancy with the absurd possession
of Dresden, whilst he was sacrificing armies, so long invincible, in keeping and
guarding this useless city, everything was being prepared for the downfall of this
insensate conqueror. If he had not been master of places on the Elbe, he would
have been constrained to take up a position behind the Rhine, and there, supported
by numerous fortresses, assured besides of communication with France, there would
have remained to him means of still treating honourably with his conquerors.

"Thus the invisible and powerful Hand abases that which it has exalted, and
exalts that v/hich it has abased ; thus, after three centuries the Albertine branch fell
from the throne which it had usurped, and the Ernestine branch recovers a part of
what had been ravished from it. The French in lamenting the fate of Frederick
Augustus, will respect in him a prince issued from the same blood as the august princess
who gave birth to our well-beloved sovereigns, Louis XVI. and Louis XVIII."

* Some say that it was to the elector himself after the battle of Jena that he addressed this
singular compliment.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 337

informed of the sense and spirit in which the government be-
lieves it necessary to direct public opinion, as much for the glory,
as for the true interests, of the king and of France ?

It is important that the origin and the author of this article,
which was inserted in No. 315, November 11, of the Gazette de
France be known. It is equally important that the Moniteur
should publish a well-reasoned article, which without being
official, would discuss the same question under the aspects of
right and utility. The memorandum joined to the report of the
23rd will furnish M. de Rheinhard ^ with the materials for such
an article.

We have had it secretly circulated, and have observed that it
has created some impression. It is a question of inserting it in
the Moniteur in such a way that it may not be recognized as the
same ; but its principles and arguments may be employed.

We forward you at the same time, an article from the Gazette
Universelle, which has apparently issued from the Austrian
cabinet, and is meant as a reply to the famous circular of Prince
Repnin.

It will be well when inserting it in the Moniteur, to add that
the editor is pleased to communicate it to the public, as worthy
of attention, and as representing the best possible principles. It
is thought that the little rap given to France might be omitted.

Our papers have, for outsiders, a far stronger authority than
those of other countries, because they are known to be under the
supervision and control of the government.

We beg of you, Monsieur le Comte, to forward us the
information we require.

The importance of the question of Saxony cannot escape
your notice. The principles we must sustain in it are identical
with those that we must employ for putting a barrier to the
march of revolution, and for consecrating anew the principles of
the rights of nations, without which the whole social edifice of
Europe would be shaken.

Be pleased to accept, &c.

No. 13. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King Louis.

Vienna, November 24, 1814."

Sire,

No sooner had we uttered the y^ ox A principles here, and
asked for the immediate sitting of the congress, than the rumour

1 M. de Rheinhard was at this time head of the Seal Office at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.

2 Var. : November 25, 1814.

VOL. IT. Z

338 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

spread abroad on all sides that France still regretted the left
bank of the Rhine, and Belgium, and would never rest until she
had recovered them, that the government of your Majesty most
probably shared this wish of the army and the nation, or that ^ if
it did not share it, it was not sufficiently strong to resist it ; that,
on both hypotheses, the peril was the same, that one could not
therefore keep too strict a guard against France; that it was
necessary to oppose to her, barriers which she could not cross,
to make the arrangements of Europe subordinate to this aim,
and to be well on one's guard against negotiators who would
leave nothing undone to hinder it. We found ourselves all at
once a mark for precautions, against which we have had to
struggle for two months. We have succeeded in triumphing
over the most painful of these suspicions, and it is no longer
said of us that we have received double instructions (as Prince
Metternich told Prince von Wr^da) that we were bidden speak
in one sense and act in another, and that we had been sent
to sow discord. The public does your Majesty justice. It be-
lieves no longer in any after-thoughts on your part. It applauds
your disinterestedness ; it praises you for having embraced the
defence of principles. It avows that the part played by no
other power is so honourable as yours. But those in whose in-
terest it is that France continues to be an object of suspicion
and fear, when unable to excite them by one pretext, do so by
another. They represent her interior condition under an alarm-
ing light. Unfortunately they base their assertions on news sent
from Paris, by those whose names, functions, and reputations
enforce belief. The Duke of Wellington, who keeps up a very
active correspondence with Lord Castlereagh, speaks only of
conspiracies, secret discontent, and ominous murmurings, pre-
cursors of storms ready to burst. The Emperor Alexander says
that his letters from Paris foretell trouble. Herr von Vincent,^
on the other hand, tells his court that he is expecting a change
in the ministry ,.and that he is sure of it. Men pretend to regard
a change of ministers as a certain index of a change of policy,
both at home and abroad. The conclusion is, that France
cannot be relied on, and that no agreement with her ought to
be arranged.

We may refute such news as much as we please, cite dates
and facts which overthrow it, oppose to it the news that we
receive ourselves, indicate the source whence I believe the Duke
of Wellington .gets his information, even show how suspicious a
source this is, they none the less persist in asserting that, at a

^ Text : " Ou que " = "or that." Var. : " «<« que ' ' = '' seeing that."
' Herr von Vincent was at that time Austrian ambassador at Paris.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 339

distance from Paris, we cannot know what is going on there, or
that we have some interest in concocting it, and that the Duke
of Wellington and Prince Metternich being on the spot, are
better informed, or more sincere.

I do not wish to accuse Lord Castlereagh of having propa-
gated the prejudices which we have had to combat, but, whether
he has imagined them .himself, or whether they have been sug-
gested to him, he is certainly imbued with them more than any-
one else. The long war which England has had to sustain
almost alone, and the peril she was in on account of it, have
produced ^ so lively an impression on him, that it deprives him,
so to speak, of the power of judging at what point of time
things changed. Of all the fears, the least reasonable, nowadays,
is certainly that of a return to the continental system. Mean-
while, those who enjoy more intimate relations with him, assure
me that he is always possessed by this fear, and that he thinks
he cannot accumulate too many precautions against this
imaginary danger. He thinks he is still at Chatillon, treating,
and writing treaties of peace, with Buonaparte. It is easy to
g^uess what effect the news of the Duke of Wellington must
have on a-mind filled with these ideas, the Duke himself thus
becoming an obstacle to that good understanding which he
seems to think so easy to establish between Lord Castlereagh
and ourselves.

I have sought this mutual understanding by all the means in
my power both before Lord Castlereagh left London, at the time
of his passage to Paris, and since we have been at Vienna. If it has
not yet been attained, it is not only owing to the prejudices of
Lord Castlereagh, but because there has been a real and abso-
lute opposition between his views and ours. Your Majesty
ordered me to defend principles. The note of October 11,
which I have the honour of forwarding your Majesty, shows what
respect he has for them. We must strain our utmost to preserve
the King and kingdom of Saxony. Lord Castlereagh wishes
with all his heart to treat the one as a condemned criminal, of
whom he has constituted himself the judge,and to sacrifice the
other. We wish Prussia to acquire and retain a great part of
the Duchy of Warsaw, and Lord Castlereagh wishes it also ;
but from such different motives, that he employs the same
means for destroying Saxony, as we for saving her. He would
thus turn against us the support which we wouid have given

^ Text : " et le peril dans lequel cet te guerre Pa mise, ont fait " = " and the peril in
which this war has put her, have produced." Var. : " et le peril que cette guerre lui
a fait courir, ont produit " = " and the peril that this war has made her run, have
produced."

Z 2

340 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

him on the question of Poland. Purposes so different cannot
possibly be reconciled.

I have often spoken, even to the Emperor Alexander himself,
of the restoration of Poland as a thing that France desired,
and which she was prepared to support. But I have never de-
manded this restoration without giving an alternative, because
Lord Castlereagh has not asked it himself, because I should have
been the only one to make the demand, and because in so doing,
I should have irritated the Emperor Alexander without gaining
any merit in the eyes of others, and also because I should have
wounded Austria, who, up to the present time at least, has not
wished for this restoration.

It is now two days since Lord Castlereagh, whom I re-
proached for the manner in which he had conducted affairs
during the past two months, replied to me : " I have always
thought that when one was a member of a league, one ought not
to separate oneself from it." He believes then in a league.
This league is certainly only a continuation of their former
overtures of peace. Now, how can he hope to come to an
understanding with those against whom he declares himself in
league }

The other members of the league or coalition against France
are in a similar position. Russia and Prussia are only waiting
for opposition on our part. Austria may desire our support on
the question of Poland and Saxony ;'• but her minister desires
it far less for these two objects, than he fears our interference in
others. He knows how much we have the affairs of Naples at
heart, and he has it scarcely less at heart himself, but in a very
different sense from that in which we have it. On Sunday last
I went to see him, after dining with Prince Trautmansdorf.
I had, the evening before, received a letter from Italy, stating
that Murat had an army of seventy thousand men, most of
them armed, thanks to the Austrians, who had sold him twenty-
five thousand rifles. I wished to come to some explanation
with Prince Metternich, or at least to show him that I knew
of it. I drew him on to the Naples business, and, as we were
in a drawing-room, with a great many people, I offered to follow
him to his study and show him the letter I had received. He
said there was no hurry, and that this question v/ould come on
later. I then asked, if it were therefore not decided .'' He re-
plied that it was, but that he was unwilling to kindle fire every-
where at once. And as he was alleging, as he always does, his

' Text : " dans les questions de la Pologne et de la Saxe " = "in the questions
of Poland and Saxony.' Var. : "dans la question de la Pologne et dans ccUe de la
Saxe" = "in the question oi Poland and in that of Saxony."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 341,

fear lest Murat should bring about a revolt in Italy, "Why-
then," said I, " did you furnish him with arms if you fear him ?
Why have you sold him twenty-five thousand rifles ? " He
denied the fact, as I had expected ; but I did not leave him the
satisfaction of believing that I was the dupe of his denial,
After I left him, he returned to the dancing- room, for it is at balls
and fetes that he wastes three-quarters of his time, and his head
was so full of the Naples business, that having come across a lady
whom he knew, he told her, that people were worrying him with
this Naples business, but that he would never consent to it, that
he respected the situation of a man who made himself beloved in
the country he governed ; that he besides passionately loved the
queen, and was in continual communication with her. All this,
and perhaps a little more on the same subject, was said masked.
We must expect that he will put in motion every imaginable
expedient for preventing the affair of Naples being treated at
the congress, according to the insinuation he dropped some
time ago at a meeting, and which I had the honour to report to
your Majesty.

The four allied courts, each having some reason for fearing
the influence which France might have in the congress, have
naturally united, and fear to approach us when divided, because
every step made in this direction would draw from them con-
cessions which they do not wish to make.

Self-love, as is natural, is also mixed in this reluctance.
Lord Castlereagh thought he was in a condition to bend the
Emperor of Russia, and only succeeded in irritating him.

Finally, all these motives are always enhanced by a feeling of
jealousy against France. The allies thought they had crushed
her more ; they did not expect to see her in possession of both
the best finances and the best army in Europe. Now they believe
it and admit it, and have even gone so far as to regret having
made the treaty of Paris, to reproach each other with it, and to
acknowledge their powerlessness to understand how they could
have had the folly to make it, and to say all this, even at the
conferences and in our presence.

A plan of campaign has even been drawn up at the War
Office, and Prince von Wreda has drawn up one on his own
account.

Austria, Bavaria, and other German States, would put three
hundred and twenty thousand men into the field.

Two hundred thousand under Prince von Schwarzenberg
would be led through Moravia and Galicia to the Vistula.

One hundred and twenty thousand commanded by Prince
von Wreda would be led from Bohemia to Saxony where they

342

THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

would raise a revolt ; and thence to the district lying between
the Oder and the Elbe. Glatz and Neiss would at the same tinie
be besieged.

The campaign would not commence before the end of March.
But this plan necessitates the co-operation of one hundred
thousand Frenchmen, of whom one-half would' be taken to
Franconia to keep the Prussians from turning back the army of
Bohemia, and the other half would engage them on the lower
Rhine.

It is therefore necessary to await till this co-operation, on
the absolute necessity of which all the generals are agreed, be
demanded of us, if war must take place.

But at present neither Lord Castlereagh nor Prince Metter-
nich speak to us of war, and we are even assured that it has
not yet been broached between them. It is only to Bavaria that
they have separately made overtures on this subject.

Whether they still put some hope in negotiation or whether
they wish to gain time, they are still negotiating. Lord Castle-
reagh's project having miscarried, they tried to reintroduce Prince
von Hardenberg on the scene. But he was unable either the
day before yesterday or to-day, to see the Emperor Alexander,
who, although much better, still keeps his room, and I do not
think he has seen him to-day.

We can therefore reasonably expect England and Austria to
make real and sincere overtures to us, only in a case of the most
urgent necessity, such as in that of their discussions with Russia
ending in an open rupture.

All the same, in spite of these feelings, in spite of the diffi-
culties they persist in causing us, and those which the letters
from Paris also produce, the powers are here, with regard to us,
in an attitude of respect and complaisancy, such as we could
never have dared to expect six weeks ago, and which I may also
say they are greatly astonished to see themselves.

Hitherto the Emperor Alexander has not budged an inch.
Lord Castlereagh, personally piqued, although he has lately
received a letter from Russia, couched in very conciliatory terms,
says, though not to us, that if the emperor will not stop at the
Vistula, he must be forced to do so by war ; that England could
only furnish very few troops on account of her war with America;^

^ England had been at war with the United States for more than two years. The
declaration of war by the government of Washington (June 19, 1812) had been pro-
voked by England's pretensions of getting American vessels to respect the pretended
blockade of the frontiers of the French Empire from Hamburg to Saint Sebastian on
the Atlantic, and from Port Vendres to Cattaro on the shores of the Mediterranean ;
and further by the rights which the English claimed of confiscating the wares of
enemies found on neutral vessels.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 343

but that she would furnish subsidies, and that Hanoverian and
Dutch troops could be employed on the Lower Rhine.

Prince von Schwarzenberg is for war, saying that it could be
fought with greater advantage now than some years hence.

The arrangements with respect to Genoa are agreed upon in
the Italian Commission. They are being drafted now, and the
commissions have charged the Comte de Noailles with this work.
The rights of the House of Carignan have been acknowledged.
The Comte de Noailles has been instructed by me to pass the
arrangements made for Piedmont, only as an integrant part of
the arrangements to be made with the concurrence of France for
the whole of Italy. It is a reservation which I thought fit to
make for the sake of Naples.

The affairs of Switzerland are going to be treated by a com-
mittee of which the Due de Dalberg is a member, as I have had
the honour of informing your Majesty.

Those of Germany are suspended by the refusal of Bavaria
and Wurtemberg to take part in the discussions, till the fate of
Saxony be settled.

There are a thousand reasons why I should like to be near
your Majesty now. But I feel retained here by the notion that
I can be of more service to you, and by the hope that in spite
of all obstacles, we shall end by getting a good deal of what you
wished.

I have the honour to be, ... .

No. 9 B. — King Louis XVIII. to the Prince de
Talleyrand.

Paris, November 26, 18 14.

My Cousin,

I have received your letter No. I3, and I can say with
truth that it is the first which has satisfied me, not that I have
not always been so, with your line of policy and manner of
informing me of the condition of affairs, but, because for the
first time, I see justice emerging. The Emperor of Russia has
gone back a step, and in politics, as in everything else, the
first step was never the last. This prince was deceived however
if he thought to draw me into an alliance (political of course)
with him. You know my plan is, general alliance, but no 1/
private ones. The latter are the causes of wars, the former
the guarantee of peace ; and without fearing war, peace is the
aim of all my wishes. It is to get peace, that I have increased
my army, that I have authorised you to give my concurrence
to Austria and Bavaria. These measures are beginning to

344 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

succeed. I believe I can expect otiicm cum. dignitate, and that
is quite sufficient to cause me satisfaction.

You have said all that I could have said on Lord Castle-
reagh's letter. I explain the diversities of his language and
that of the Duke of Wellington, by their respective positions ;
the one follows instructions, the other gives them.

I should like to have sene the affairs of Italy from the Alps
to Terracine already settled : for I anticipate great results from
that settlement. Whereupon, my cousin, may God have you in
His safe and holy keeping.

Louis.

No. i6 A. — The Ambassadors of the King at the
Congress to the Minister for Foreign Affairs at

Paris.

Vienna, November 30, 1814.

Monsieur le Comte,

No general conference has been held since our last
dispatch. Prince Metternich and Prince von Hardenberg have
both been obliged to keep their beds from colds.

The affair of Genoa meanwhile has been adjusted and ended.
The acts are about to be signed, and the next messenger will
carry copies of them to the department. M. de Corsini has been
charged with answering the memorandum of Count de Labrador,
who claimed Tuscany for the Queen of Etruria. The debate on
this question is about to take place, and we are afraid that it will
be only with the greatest difficulty that the queen will return
to this ancient patrimony of her family. Lord Castlereagh has
expressed an opinion to this effect. A meeting to arrange
the affairs of Switzerland has been held, and the French
plenipotentiary invited to it.

The demands of the canton of Bern have been heard,
but nothing concluded. There appears to be general good will
towards Bern, but there is also no wish to overthrow the
existence of the remaining nineteen cantons, which was guaran-
teed by the act of Federal Union. The results of these
conferences according as they emerge will be reported to the
king.

The authorisation that the king has given for the exchange
of a part of the district of Gex will be of great use. We
observe however in this matter, it is no long question of the
spoliation of the Prince-Bishop of Basel, which had already in
1803, ^"^ the time of the recess of the German Empire, lost

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 345>

its rights of sovereignty, received a grant of twenty thousand
francs, and has exercised spiritual powers ever since.^

The German conferences have been suspended, Wurtemberg
and Bavaria would not assist in riveting the fetters prepared
for them. A reply made by the Austrian and Prussian
cabinets to the Wurtemberg plenipotentiaries, increased their
suspicion in this respect. We subjoin here a copy and a French
translation.

The minor and medium States of Germany, have meanwhile
formed a second league, and the Grand Due of Baden has joined
it, owing to some advice given to him to this effect by the
Empress of Russia, his sister.

As to Polish and Saxon affairs, they are in the same
situation, and at no period of the congress have the allied
powers given to France a more complete conviction of their
disunion than they have done at this time, when England,
Austria, Russia, and Prussia agree on no single point which
ought to be a basis for the general arrangement of Europe.

The attitude that France has assumed, places her in a
position to await quietly the results of these intrigues, and only
to appear on the scene for the purpose of getting the voice of
reason heard. It is in this spirit that we think it would be
useful to write some newspaper articles, against the teachings of
the Correspondant de Nuremberg, and the Mercure du Rhin, who
both delight in falsifying facts and in fostering the animus
which reigns in Germany against France.

Be pleased to accept

No. 14. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King
Lous XVII I.

Vienna, November 30, 1814.
I have received the letter with which your Majesty has,
deigned to honour me, dated the isth inst, and, by the same

1 The bishopric of Basel'was at one time a partly independent state. The Bishop,
Prince of the Holy Empire since 1356, possessed, as vassal of the Empire, the places.
of Porrentruy, Delemont, and Laufen with their territories, the whole being incor-
porated within the district of the Upper Rhine. He was besides independent sove-
reign of the tovras of Bienne, Neuveville, the seigniories of Tessemberg, Erguel, and
lUfingen. In 1792, the Revolution transformed the bishopric into the republic of
Rauracia, which only lasted a few months ; in 1793, the districts of Delemont and
Porrentruy were annexed to France ; and in 1797, Erguel and Val-Moutiers underwent
the same fate. The Bishop of Basel thus deprived of his states the remainder of
which were secularized in 1803, received a grant of 10,000 florins. In 1815, the old
bishopric of Basel was adjudged by the Congress of Vienna to the canton of Bern,
with the exception of twelve parishes which were given to the canton of Basel, and.
of one district which was given to Neuchatel.

346 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

messenger, the authorisation which your Majesty has been pleased
to give me for the exchange of a small part of the country of
Gex for a portion of Porrentruy.

The former Prince-Bishop of Basel has already resumed,
as bishop, the spiritual administration of Porrentruy, but he
cannot, as prince, recover the possession he lost, not by the
simple fact of conquest, but by the general secularization of the
ecclesiastical states of Germany in 1803. As prince he enjoys a
grant of sixty thousand florins, and does not lay claim to more.
He can therefore be no obstacle to the project of exchange
which we have had the honour to lay before your Majesty. But
this exchange may be rendered difficult by one of the conditions
upon which your Majesty has made it contingent : namely, the
restitution of Bernese Aargau to the canton of Bern, for
according to all appearances, this restitution will cause great,
and, perhaps" insurmountable difficulties. I .suppose however
that if one were limited to restoring some bailiwicks of Aargau
to the canton of Bern, the parts of the bishopric of Basel
comprised in the ancient boundaries of Switzerland would
be given it as compensation, and that Bern would be content
with this arrangement. Your Majesty would be content with it
yourself

The committee charged with settling Swiss affairs has, at
present, done nothing else than convince itself that the
multiplicity and divergence of the several claims render them
very thorny to deal with. Those who, in the beginning, wished
to regulate them alone, and who contested our rights to interfere,
have been the first to demand our concurrence, one may almost
say, our help arid advice. It is true that the Swiss envoys who
are here, and who from the beginning of our sojourn at Vienna,
have allied themselves with us, have declared that if they
thought that they could establish a settled order of things in
Switzerland, without the intervention, or even the assistance 1 of
France, they have rocked themselves in the vainest of vain hopes.

When the allies were treating of peace and were wishing to
make it with Bonaparte, ^ they had addressed themselves to the
cantons which had suffered most from the Swiss revolutions,
rousing in them the recollection and feeling of their losses, and
holding out to them the prospect of repairing them. Their aim
was to detach Switzerland from France, and this seemed to them
to be an infallible means. But it was found that these cantons
were precisely those which were the most attached to the House
of Bourbon. Then the allies troubled themselves no further

^ Text: " I'assistance " = "help."' Var. : " Tassentiment" =" assent."
^ Text : "Bonaparte.'' Var.: "Buonaparte."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 347

with a means which no longer suited their aim, and which was
even contrary to their main purpose, and have gathered from
their overtures nothing but embarrassment as to how to back out
and quiet affairs. Some formed the idea of uniting Germany
and Switzerland in one and the same league.^ This is another
idea which was abandoned. ^ There appears now to be a perfectly
genuine wish to terminate matters, by satisfying the chief and
most just claims, and by making besides as few changes as
is possible. There is therefore some reason to hope that there
will be an arrangement for Switzerland, which if not the best in
itself, will- yet be the best that circumstances allow ; that the
independence of the country and, what is not less important
for us, its neutrality, will be declared.

1 The commission for Italian affairs has, with regard to that of
Genoa, drawn up a report and a proposal consisting of certain
articles which will be signed to-morrow, and addressed to the
eight powers. I shall have the honour of sending to your
Majesty by the next messenger, a copy of this proposal. After
the affairs of Genoa, come those of Parma which present more
difficulties, if it is true, as is said, that the Emperor of Austria
and Prince Metternich have recently given positive assurance to
the Archduchess Marie-Louise, that she should preserve Parma.
What is certain is, that the archduchess, who hitherto had
the arms of her husband on her carriages, has had the arms of
the Duchy of Parma painted on one of them. I hope never-
theless that it may be restored to the Queen of Etruria.

It is to Venice that the twenty-five thousand rifles sold to
Murat have been taken. It appears that in spite of the pro-
tection of Prince Metternich, he does not feel very sure, for he
has just written a long letter to the Archduchess Marie-Louise,
in which he tells her among other things that if Austria will lend
him her support, so as to enable him to remain at Naples, " he
will raise her again to the rank from which she ought never to
have fallen." (These were the very words of the letter.) Such
an extravagance, even in a man of his country and character,
can only be explained as an excessive fear which betrays itself.

The conferences of the German commission are still sus-
pended. Wurtemberg has declared that she could give no opinion
whatever on the portions of a whole, which were only shown her
one after the other, and isolated, and that she would deliberate on

^ Text : " d'unir dans ime meme ligue '' = "to unite in one and the same league,"
Var. : " de reunir dans la mSme ligue " = " to unite in the same league."

' Text: "C'est encore une idee abandonnee" = "This is another idea which
was abandoned." Var. : " C'est une idee abandonnee = " This is an idea which was
abandoned."

348 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

none of them, before she had been informed of the whole. This-
has drawn forth, on the part of Austria and Prussia, a letter by
the tenour of which these two powers show sufficiently plainly
the kind of sway which, in sharing her between them, they
would like to exercise over Germany.

Persuaded that the influence thus exercised would soon,
develop into dominion and sovereignty, all the states of the
former Rhenish confederation, with the exception of Bavaria and
Wurtemberg, have assembled to express their wish for the
re-establishment of the old German Empire, in the person of him
who was the head of it.

These states are on the point of forming a league, of which
the object will be to oppose a resistance of non-consent and
inertia to the policy which Austria and Prussia would like to
see prevail. The Grand-Due of Baden, who at first held him-
self aloof, has now joined the others, by the advice of the
Empress of Russia, his sister, who has only been the instrument
of the Emperor Alexander.

The affairs of Poland and Saxony remain still in the same
condition ; the step which Prince Metternich had Prince von
Hardenberg take, and which did not meet with the approval
of Lord Castlereagh, having been without result, as well as
the interview that Lord Castlereagh had with the Emperor
Alexander.

I have the honour to forward to your Majesty the draft of
this discussion in six articles. It still lacks one letter, which I
shall have later, and which I have already read. It is the last
letter of the Emperor Alexander, in which he tells Lord
Castlereagh, that it is sufficient, and invites him henceforth to
proceed in his official capacity.

Those who have read these papers do not understand how
Lord Castlereagh, after having advanced as far as he has done,
could draw back ; he himself does not understand how, or in
what direction, he could advance another step.

For the rest, your Majesty will see that Lord Castlereagh has
only occupied himself with Poland, having made up his mind
that he had to sacrifice Saxony ; and all this in consequence of
that policy which only views matters in the bulk, without
troubling itself of the elements which go to form them. It is a
policy of schoolboys and allies.

I must make the same petition to your Majesty with regard
to these papers that I have for those which I have already had
the honour to forward you. I have received these in the same
manner as the others and under the same conditions.

The Emperor Alexander shows signs of making overtures to

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 349

us. He complains of those, who, since we have been here, and
especially at first, have, as it were, interposed themselves
between him and us, and names Prince Metternich and
Count Nesselrode. The intermediary he employs with me is
Prince Adam Czartoryski who enjoys most of his confidence
at the present time, and whom he has admitted to his council,
to which Prince Nesselrode is no longer invited, and which
is composed of Prince Adam, Count Capo d'Astria and
Herr von Stein.

The emperor has quite recovered and goes out. Prince
Metternich is ill ; he went out neither yesterday nor to-day,^
which prevents him from holding a meeting with the ministers
of the eight powers.

Lord Castlereagh came this morning to propose to me to
make use of this time of forced inaction for turning our attention
to the question of the blacks. But while joking on his proposal
and on the motives ^ which led him to it, I told him so positively
that this must be the last question of all, and that the affairs
of Europe must be settled before those of Africa, that I hope
he will not give me occasion to repeat it to him a second time.

I have the honour to be, &c.

No. 10 B. — King Louis XVIII. to the Prince de
Talleyrand.

Paris, December 4, 1814.

My Cousin,

I am in receipt of your letter, No. 1 3. Always satisfied
with your conduct, I am, as you may readily believe, very little
satisfied with the state of affairs, which seems to me far removed
from that in which they were when you sent off your letter No. 1 2.
God alone is master of human wills ; men can do -nothing, and
however ^ that may be, by holding firmly on to principles, by
perhaps deserving that the verse : Justum et tenacem propositi virum,
may be applied to me, honour will remain to me, which is what
I am most ambitious of

I am not surprised at the rumours which are current, of the
news that is handed on, and of the seeming consistency given
to them by evilly-disposed people ; were I to worry about these,

^ Text: "il n'est sorti ni hier ni aujourd'hui " = "he went out neither yester-
day nor to-day." Var. : " et ne s'est point leve ni hier ni aujoxird'hui " = "and
has not left his bed either yesterday or to-day."

^ Text "les motifs" = " the motives." Var. : " les moXXk personnels" — "the
personal motives."

' Text : " et quoiqu'il en puisse etre " = " and however that may be.'' Var. :
"mais quoiqu'il" = " tut however that may be."

350 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

I should not have a moment's repose, whereas now, my sleep is
as peaceful as it was in my youth. The reason is simple : I
have never for a moment thought that, after the first moments
of the Restoration, the mixture of so many heterogeneous ele-
ments, would produce no agitation. I know well that this exists ;
but I am not disturbed by it. Resolved never to leave the path
Equity prescribes me, within the constitution I have given my
people, never to relax the exercise of my legitimate authority,
I fear nothing, and sooner or later, I shall see these clouds
disperse, clouds whose gathering I had foreseen.

You have heard speak of a change in the ministry, and I now
announce it to you. I am ready to do all justice to the zeal
and good qualities of the Comte Dupont : but I cannot equally
praise his administration. Consequently, I have just deprived
him of his department, which I entrust to Marshal Soult. I am
giving that of the navy to the Comte Beugnot ; i and the general
superintendence of police to M. d'Andre.^ But these partial
changes in confidential posts, and of which I could wish you had
been first informed, change in no respect the policy, which is
mine: you must take great care in clearly stating this to
whoever speaks to you of what is taking place to-day.

I shall be very pleased to see you again when the time
comes ; but the reasons which determined me to deprive myself
of your services near my person, exist in increased measure by
the very difficulties which you are experiencing. It is therefore
necessary that you continue to represent me at the congress as
well as you are now doing, to its close. Whereupon, my Cousin,
may God have you in His safe and holy keeping.

Louis.

The Comte de Blacas d'Aulps to the Prince de
Talleyrand.

Paris, December 4, 1814.

Your Highness,
The letter which the King has received from you by the
messenger, who had been unable to bring me the reply to that
which I had the honour of writing to you, on the 9th ultimo,

' The office of Minister of the Navy had been vacant since the death of its chief,
M. de Malouet (September 7).

^ Antoine-Balthazar -Joseph d' Andre v^ras born at Aix in 1 759, member of the
farlemeni of Provence in 1778, deputy of the nobility at the States-General, president
of the Constituent Assembly (August, 1790); he took a seat in the ranks of the
Constitutionals. In 1792, prosecuted as a monopolist, he took refuge in England,
was appointed general director of police, and the Intendant of the king's house. He
died in 1825.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 351

had already thrown important light upon the principal subjects
treated in the letters, which you were so good as to forward me
on the 23rd. His Majesty has had the goodness to com-
municate your despatch to me as well as Lord Castlereagh's letter,
and it is impossible, as you observe, not to be struck with the
difference existing between the style of this note, and the
language of the Duke of Wellington.

I cannot, however, I confess, yet decide what are the real
causes of this difference. The king dislikes attributing it to a
plot merely, of which the aim would be to discredit France.
Lord Wellington, by official communications, such as that of
which I have spoken to you on the subject of the relations of
Naples to Paris, and by his late conduct on the occasion of a
correspondence seized on the person of Lord Oxford,^ has shown
a disposition, whose motive could scarcely have been that ^ of
the desire to spread chimerical fears alone. It might also be
possible that, exaggerating in his own mind perils, rumours of
which too generally welcomed, cease not to frighten timid spirits,
he often thwarted, without meaning it, the policy of the king,
or perhaps favoured thereby intentions less loyal than his own.
What is certain is, that several circumstances independent of the
views of England, furnished only too many pretexts for suspicion
likely to encourage vexatious opinions, such as. those whose
effect you fear. Your Highness knows, and has often deplored
with me, the little credit obtained by His Majesty's govern-
ment, through want of vigour and of unity of operation ^ in the
ministry. This weakness, which for some time was only known
to the cabinet, could not fail in time to acquire an unfortunate
publicity. Add to this, the discontent of the army, whose com-
plaints constantly filled the ears of the princes, in their journeys
to the departments ; the feeling of insecurity, to which all the
protests against the inefficiency of the police give rise ; finally
the informations of all kinds laid to the charge of men, marked
out by their intentions or speeches, perhaps utterly without

1 Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford, bom in 1773, died in 1849, issue of the family
of the English statesman of that name (1661-1724). The title is to-day extinct.
Lord Oxford was, at the time, residing at Naples, without any official title. He was
in constant communications with Murat and his court, and this aroused the suspicions
of the French government. Thus, as the earl was passing through Paris, on his
return to England, he was, on some pretext or other arrested. Several letters from
the King of Naples were found among his papers : but, proofs of a conspiracy between
Murat and Napoleon were looked for in vain.

^ Text : " motiver le projet unique de repandre " = " the mere project of spread-
ing ... . could hardly be the motive." Var. : " motiver uniquement le projet de
repandre" = "the project of spreading .... could solely be the motive."

" Text: " d'ensemble des operations" = "unity of operation." Var.: " d'en-
semble dans les operations" = "unity in the operations."

352 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

foundation, but not without probability, as the instigators of most
dangerous plots ; everything, to the very measures of safety
which the zeal of the military commanders has rendered too
plain, must produce an impression of which foreigners can profit
without having contributed to it.

This state of things will explain to Your Highness the
imperious necessity to which the king felt he must give way, by
making some change in his ministry. It was only yesterday
His Majesty signified this intention in this respect. Whilst fully
admitting the great and good qualities of Comte Dupont, the
King recognized that the army, imputing to this minister mis-
takes which perhaps the exigencies of the moment rendered
inevitable,! longed for quite a different policy, and therefore
turned his attention to Marshal Soult,^ whom he has entrusted
with the direction the War Office. This choice which has been
dictated to His Majesty by the desire to quiet the troops, and to
give them confidence and zeal, so necessary to the maintenancevi;
of national power, will without doubt be acknowledged by you,''
as being in conformity with the principles His Majesty has
always followed.

The office of Ministry of Marine given to the Comte Beugnot
and the direction ^ of the police given to M. d'Andre, are other
changes by which the king has sought to occupy public
attention.

Your Highness will doubtless consider that this change, in-
considerable as it is, when looked at in comparison with the
formation of a cabinet, must none the less lead to important
results. As a matter of fact, the spirit of the army and the security
of the police, have become so important factors in the loyalty of
public opinion that, from this point of view, the resolution of the
king possesses the greatest interest. It is to you that His
Majesty looks for presenting this change in its true light at
Vienna, and to get it looked upon, not as a change of ministry,
but rather as affording additional power and enlightenment to
the government.

The king regrets keenly that instead of having to entrust this
task to your care, he cannot see you near him, so as to offer one
more proof of the favourable opinion he wishes to win for his

' Text : "imputant des torts que peut-etre, i ce ministre, les embarras du moment
rendaient inevitables" = "imputing mistakes which perhaps the difficulties of the
moment rendered inevitable to this minister." Var. : "imputant peut-etre a ce
ministre des torts que les embarras du moment rendaient inevitable" = "imputing
perhaps to this minister mistakes which the difficulties of the moment rendered
inevitable." . . . (Same meaning ; order of words simply altered.)

^ Var: " Sur Momieur le Due de Da-lmatie" = " On the Due de Dalmatie."
■' Text: "direction" = "direction." Var. -. "direction gencraU" = "general
direction."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 353

ministry.* But His Majesty is too fully conscious of the advan-
tageous effects produced by your unremitting efforts.^ Besides,
it is possible, that affairs taking a quicker turn, you may be
retained less time than you give us occasion to fear, which I
heartily desire.*

TJie last news from Spain is not good. The Comte de
Jaucourt will certainly inform you of the report which M:
d'Asgoult* has Just addressed him.

Nothing has yet been decided as to the time of the adjournment
of the Chambers?

I beg your Highness to kindly accept renewed assurances of
my most sincere and invariable attachment.

Blacas d'Aulps.

No. 1 7 A. — The Ambassadors of the King at the
Congress to the Minister of Foreign Affairs at

Paris.

Vienna, December 7, 18 14.

Monsieur le Comte,

We have the honour to forward to you the report of the
commission upon the formation of the kingdom of Sardinia ; it
has been drafted by the Comte de Noailles.

It is probable that in the next conference which will bring
together the plenipotentiaries of the eight powers who signed
the treaty of Paris, all that yet remains to be decided on this
question will be definitely settled, to wit : —

1st. The formal recognition that the succession of the House
of Sardinia lies in the family of Savoy-Carignan.

2nd. The title the King of Sardinia is to bear in taking
possession of the State of Genoa ;

3rd. The award of the imperial fiefs.

We have also the honour to forward to the department two
German letters, one of which is that written 'by the court of

* Text: "qu'il veut" = "which he wants." Var. . "qu'il disire'" = "which
he desires."

' Text: " Mais sa Majeste sent les effets avantageux qu'ont produits vos con-
tinuels efforts" = as translated. Var.: ".Sa MajesU sent neanmoins toule la verili
des observations que vous luifaites sur Veffet avantageiuc gu'ont produits vos continuels
efforts " = " IJis Majesty nevertheless is too fully conscious of the truth of the observa-
tions made by you to him as to the advantageous effects of your unremitting efforts."

* Text: "et je le desire vivement" = "and I heartily desire it." Var. : " et
pour moije disire fort que votre retour soit plus prochain que vous ne semblez Vespirer"

= " and for my part, I hope that your return may be nearer than you appear O
expect."

* Hector d'Asgoult, secretary of the embassy at Madrid.

° The end of this letter is not found in the text of the archives.

VOL. II. A A

354 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE T4LLEYRAND.

Wurtemberg to the German commission. It provoked the
reply of the cabinets of Prussia and Austria, of which our
former despatch enclosed a copy. The second letter is that
which the court of Wurtemberg drew up as an explanation of the
former. Otherwise, German affairs are still suspended, and await
the decision of the Saxony question which is still hovering in a
.state of uncertainty. There appear to be no overtures from
either side.

The Swiss conference has commenced. M. de Dalberg
defends to the best of his abilities the interests of the canton of
Bern, and although the powers have decided on keeping the
nineteen cantons intact, some advantages can yet be won for
this canton, at least from the bishopric of Basel. M. de Dalberg
will give a general report when some definite arrangement has
been arrived at.

Be pleased to accept. . . .

No. 1 5- — The Prince de Talleyrand to King Louis XVIII.

Vienna, December 7, 1S14.

Sire,

The present letter which I have the honour to write to
your Majesty will be short. I have only this moment learnt the
facts which I am going to report. I substitute them for others
less important and more vague which I had gathered together.

I am told, and I have every reason to believe it, that a
messenger, who arrived this evening, has brought to Lord Castle-
reagh and to Count von Miinster the order to back up Saxony.
(I am ignorant as yet to what extent, and whether it is to be
done in all cases, or only on certain conditions.) It is added
that Lord Castlereagh addressed a letter to Prince Metternich
this very morning, informing the Prince of this command, and
also that Count von Miinster, who has always been of our
opinion though 'rather timidly, is going to express himself on
this question with considerable force. Prince von Wrede has in
all probability read the letter of Lord Castlereagh at the house
of Prince Metternich.

On the morning of the day before yesterday, Prince Metternich
had an interview with the Emperor Alexander in which the most
ingenious subtleties and artifices were employed on both sides ;
but it led to nothing. But as Prince Metternich declared that
his master would never consent to Saxony being handed over
to Prussia, the Emperor Alexander wishing to know if he had
told him the truth, attacked the Emperor Francis in the evening
after the banquet, and said to him :

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 355;

" At the present time, we sovereigns are obliged to conform
to and obey the wish of the people. The wish of the Saxon
people is not to be divided. They prefer to belong to Prussia,
rather than be divided, or parcelled out"

To this Emperor Francis replied :

" I do not understand that doctrine at all. This is mine : a
Prince can, if he wishes, surrender a portion of his dominions ; he
cannot give up all his country or all his people. If he abdicates lU
his right passes to his legitimate heirs. He cannot deprive them |n\
of it ; Europe herself has not the right to do so."

"That is not consonant with modern ideas," said the
Emperor Alexander.

" It is my opinion," replied the Emperor Francis, " that it
ought to be that of all sovereigns, and consequently yours. As
for me, I will never depart from it."

This conversation which was reported to me to the same
tenour by two different people, may be relied upon, as a
fact. One is therefore justified in saying that the Emperor of
Austria's opinion on the question of Saxony does not leave
Prince Metternich the choice of defending or abandoning it, and
it was not without good grounds that the Saxon minister flattered
himself that it would never be abandoned.

It is said that the Emperor Alexander declares that one
conversation with the Emperor Francis is worth ten with Prince ,
Metternich, because the former always expresses himself
clearly and one knows what to expect from him.

The princes of Germany, who have met for the purpose of
considering some means for defending their rights against the
projects which they know or guess the commission charged with
German affairs has formed against them, are going, I hope, to
publish a declaration in favour of the preservation of Saxony.
Marshal von Wrede, to whom the majority have addressed them-
selves, has advised them to press on, saying the moment was
favourable. He has promised that Bavaria would join them.

Wurtemberg, for the time being, is ranged on the side of
Prussia. It is the Prince Royal, who is in love with the Arch-
duchess Catherine who has influenced the cabinet in this. The /;
court of Stuttgart has done a dirty trick in this, which will do;'/ ;
her no good, and will scarcely harm any one else. This conduct 1 1
so ignoble and disloyal, to say no more, of the King of Wurtem- * ^
berg, does not seem to me to be calculated to promote the desire
of becoming his nephew.^ I shall ask your Majesty to allow me

1 If the Due de Berry had married the Grand-Duchesse Anne, he would thus have
become the nephew of the King of Wurtemberg. The latter, in fact, was the brother
■of Sophie- Dorothea, Princess of Wurtemberg, who had married the Emperor Paul.

A A 2

356 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

to speak again one day at greater length of this subject which I
only mention here.

The Emperor of Russia had expressed a wish to see me ;
afterwards, he preferred first to clear up some confused ideas,
with which he informed me by Prince Adam Czartoryski, his
head was troubled. In my intercourse with him, I have not
been able to make use of General Pozzo, who is not now on the
best of terms with him. His servanTsThemselves only see him
with difficulty. The Due de Richelieu ^ had to wait a whole
month to get an audience. Prince Adam, although an interested
party in our discussions, is my most useful mediator. I have
not yet seen the emperor. I am told that he is shaken but
still undecided. I do not know when, or on what, he will
determine.

I have the honour to forward to your Majesty copies of the
two papers, which (to use his own expression) " constitute the
conclusion of his correspondence" with Lord Castlereagh. He
hcis been generally blamed for having engaged, so to speak, in a
hand-to-hand fight, little worthy of his rank, even had he proved
victorious in it, whereas the contrary is the fact. Thus, instead
of triumphing, which he doubtless contemplated, his vanity
carries off nothing from the strife but wounds.

Your Majesty will see from all this discussion, that Lord
Castlereagh has only looked at the question of Poland from one
point of view, and that he has isolated this subject from all others.
Not only has he not demanded the independence of Poland, but
he has not even expressed a wish for it : and he has even spoken
of the Polish people in terms that rather dissuade than call for
this arrangement. He has taken especial care to keep the
Polish question perfectly separate from that of Saxony, a country
which he had completely abandoned and which he is henceforth
going to support.

I have also the honour of forwarding to your Majesty a

The Grand-Duchesse Anne was the last daughter of Paul I. This princess, after '
having been on the point of becoming the wife of the Emperor Napoleon in iSlo,
and of the Due de Berry in 1814, was married, in 1815, to the Prince of Orange, who
became, later, King of the Netherlands, under the name of William II.

' Armand du Plessis, Due de Richelieu, grandson of the marshal of this name.
He was bom in 1766, and was in 1789 first gentleman of the bedchamber. He emi-
grated the same year, repaired first to Vienna, and then entered the Russian army, and
received from the Empress Catherine the rank of lieutenant-general (1790). He came
back to France for a brief period in 1802, but returned to Russia in 1803, and was
appointed by the Emperor Alexander Governor of Odessa, and afterwards of all New
Russia. Having gone back again to France, he re-assumed his office at the court,
and became in September 1815 Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the
Council. He retired in 1818, but retained his dignity of state minister, to which was
added that of master of the hounds. He returned to power in February 1820, but only
retained office till December, 1 82 1. He died in the following year.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 357

letter of your consul at Leghorn.^ I have made use here, and
with some success, of the information it contains, which I have
sent to the Emperor of Russia. M. de Saint-Marsan has received
similar intelUgence, and Prince Metternich confesses that he has
received the same warnings from Paris. The conclusion which
I draw from it is that it is necessary to rid oneself as soon as
possible of the man at Elba and of Murat. My opinion is
bearing fruit. Count von Munster warmly shares it. He has
written about it to his court. He has spoken of it to Lord
Gastlereagh in such terms that the latter in his turn has gone to
rouse Prince Metternich, who is employing all means to get the
contrary opinion to prevail.

His great stratagem is to make us lose time, in the belief that he
thereby gains it. It is already eight days since the commission
for Italian affairs settled those of Genoa. I have already had
the honour of informing your Majesty that they were settled in
accordance with your desires. I subjoin to my letter of to-day
to the department, the work of the commission. Your Majesty
will find in it clauses, nay even the very terms prescribed in our
instructions. To-morrow the commission of the eight powers
will take cognizance of the report and give its verdict.^ I doubt
not that the conclusions of the report will be adopted. Tuscany
and Parma will next engage attention. This work, which ought
to be already finished, has been retarded by the slight illness of
Prince Metternich, who, in order to finish nothing, terms his
present state " convalescence."

The time lost to business is wasted in f^tes. The Emperor
Alexander demands and even commands them, as if he were at
his own court. We are invited to those fetes, shown every regard,
treated with distinction, in order to show the sentiments felt to-
wards your Majesty, whose praises are on everybody's lips ; but
all this does not make me forget that it is now nearly three
months that I have been absent from you.

I have spoken to Lord Gastlereagh of the arrest of Lord
Oxford, of which M. de Jaucourt had informed me. Far from
showing any displeasure, he told me he was delighted at it ; and
has depicted Lord Oxford to me as a man who merited no
esteem. I wish that among his papers, some had been found
compromising Murat in the eyes of this court.

The two messengers who have come to me from Paris have
brought me the letters with which your Majesty has deigned to
honour me, dated November 22 and 26.

I have the honour to be. . . .

1 The Chevalier Mariotti, who had been entrusted with watching the intrigues of
Napoleon at Elba. ' Var. : Add. sur ce travail — on this work.

3S8 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

No. II B. — King Louis XVIII. to the Prince
DE Talleyrand.

Paris, December lo, 1814.

My Cousin,

I am in receipt of your letter No. 14.

You have very well interpreted my instructions with regard to
the canton of Aargau. I should certainly prefer that Switzer-
land might again become what she has been hitherto ; but
I will not wish what is impossible, and provided the canton of
Kern be as satisfied as it can expect to be under the circum-
stances, I am so too. With regard to the Prince-Bishop of
Basel, I had not remembered the last recess of the Empire ;
but I see that it solves ^ the question in this respect. And
I have no further objection to make to the projected disposal
of Porrentruy.

I have read with interest, and am carefully preserving,
the papers you have sent me. Lord Castlereagh speaks very
well with regard to Poland, but his letter of October 11, belies
his language considerably. If however he has succeeded
in persuading the Emperor of Russia, it will be a great
advantage for Saxony ; but I scarcely see any appearance
of it, and we must not swerve from our own line of conduct.

You know Prince Czartoryski, and I know him also ; the
choice that his Imperial Majesty has made, taking him as
mediator, leads me to think that he would rather I should
make overtures to him, than he to me. Continue these con-
ferences all the same, while equally continuing to follow
out my intentions. No harm can result from them and they
may produce some good.

I am pleased to believe that it is from fear that Murat
is playing the braggart ; all the same, never lose sight for a
moment of the fact, that if Buonaparte has any resource left, it // /
is in Italy by means of Murat, and that also, delenda est I /
Carthago. Wherefore, my dear cousin, I pray God may have /
you in His safe and holy keeping. LOUIS.

The Ambassadors of the King at the Congress to
THE Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, December 14, 1814.

Monsieur Le Comte,

Our despatch of November 5, to the department
exposed the advantage which might accrue from an exchange

1 Text: "qu'il tranche" = " that it solves. " Var. : " qu'il a tranche "=" that
it has solved. "

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 359

of a part of the country of Gex for a part of the bishopric of
Basel, an exchange which is desired by the Helvetian Con-
federation, asked by the Genevese and proposed by the great
powers.

This sacrifice would have allowed hopes of a greater
influence over the Helvetian Confederation, if the return of one-
of its cantons could have been procured for the canton of Bern..

One would also have been justified in believing that the
Genevese recognizing the value of this condescension would work
on their part at getting the Vaudois and Aargau people to
satisfy the just pecuniary claims which the canton of Bera
proffers.

Pressed by the English plenipotentiary to reveal what were
the conditions imposed by France for the exchange of a part
of the country of Gex, the French plenipotentiary remitted to
him report No. i, asking him to show it only to the ministers,
in order to know if their instructions admitted destroying, in
favour of Bern, the principle of the integrity of the nineteen
cantons. The English minister, instead of keeping secret this
confidential communication, showed it to the Genevese deputies,
who drew up a counter project (No. 2).

The conditions which it incloses are all in direct opposition
to the orders of the king, who wished that the exchange should
be made without depriving the King of Sardinia of any territory,
and that Bern should recover the portion of Aargau which
this canton (Bern) had possessed before.

During this interval the powers, and especially England, were
said to cherish the hope of increasing their influence in Switzer-
land by this exchange. They were very particular in letting the
Helvetian league know what great obligations it was under to
them for securing it.

The Genevese, far from recognizing the sacrifice that France
had made, pretended they had gained all their advantages from
the congress, and maintained that, protected by the allies,
nothing could be refused them. To prove this, they assured
us;" that although the exchange had been made contrary to the
expressed wish of France, the king had yet acquiesced in it.

These observations, which were well known, attracted some
attention ; and in the conferences, the French plenipotentiary
took occasion to maintain that England only seconded this
exchange so vehemently, to get herself more highly valued ; and
to be able to realise promises made to the Genevese at the time
of the treaty of Chaumont.

Several letters from Paris, addressed to Swiss deputies,
announced at the same time that public opinion disapproved

36o THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

of this exchange, and that people were astonished that the
French government had consented to it.

It has therefore been thought more to the interests of the
king and of France, to throw it over, and with the more in-
sistence, that the internal situation of Switzerland and the
obstacles put in the way to all exchange of the new cantons
by the Emperor of Russia, has rendered it impossible to obtain
the conditions to which the king had attached his consent to the
exchange.

The French plenipotentiary sent in consequence a reply
(No. 3) to the Genevese project, and declared that the exchange
could not be allowed. The English plenipotentiary in express-
ing his regrets at this modification of our attitude, announced
that his government was intending to make a fresh attempt at
Paris, to obtain the execution of the exchange, and proposed to
reserve the part of the bishopric of Basel, which was to serve as
the make-weight, by leaving it under a provisory government.
The other plenipotentiaries refused their consent to this ; but
allowed this reservation to hold good till the end of the congress,
and the projects proposed by England to be furthered.

Although the Austrian and French plenipotentiaries observed
that this only prolonged the uncertainty, and was harmful to
the real interests of Switzerland, the proposal of England was
maintained.

We believe therefore that the Duke of Wellington will
receive a fresh command to ask for a fresh decision from the
king, in order to know, if, in spite of the recognition of the
integrity of the nineteen cantons, the king would consent to
this exchange ; we think that it is to the interest of the king to
refuse it.

1. Because it does not produce the advantages it is believed
to.

2. Because the influence of France in Switzerland can only
be increased by means of Bern and her allies.

3. Because that so long as all that concerns the Helvetian
Confederation is done under the auspices of the allied powers,
France must reserve her means, and only act later, if she wishes
to strengthen her influence.

In thus informing you, Monsieur le Comte, of what has passed
on this subject, you will be forewarned when the English
ambassador presents himself to raise this question. It might
also be as well for the French ambassador in London to know
of this matter, and we ask you. Monsieur le Comte, to transmit
to him the details of it, which you will also be so good as to show,
the king.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 361

Prince Talleyrand, in order to thwart the importunities of
the English ministers the more easily, has told them that the
king has asked the chancellor of France under what form the
cessions or exchanges of territory could be made, and that the
chancellor had replied that this was not yet sufficiently decided,
and that he must decline mixing himself up in such questions :
after which the French plenipotentiaries could not furnish a
further reply to this question.

It will be well, Monsieur le Comte, to apprise the chancellor of
this, that he may avoid giving an explanation on this subject, in
case the ambassadors of England should speak to him of it, or
may give a reply similar to that which we have given here.

Be pleased to accept

No. 19 A. — The Ambassadors of the King at the
Congress to the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, December 14, 1814.

Monsieur le Comte,

We have the honour to forward to you the protocol of
the last conference. Another has since been held, but the pro-
tocol has not yet been drafted. We have waited to decide,
with regard to the proposal of Count Labrador, on the Imperial
fiefs, as to the time when the fate of the King of Etruria, as well
as that of the Archduchesse Marie Louise .... shall be settled.
The French plenipotentiaries have proposed, in accordance with
the principle of the faithful execution of the dispositions of the
treaty of Paris, the formation of three new commissions —

The first to regulate, conformably to article 5i the navi-
gation of rivers.

The second to regulate the rank and precedence of crowns,
and all that follows from this ;

The third, to discuss the alDolition of the slave-trade.

This last point has caused some difficulties, because the
Portuguese plenipotentiary observed that the commission could
only be formed by powers interested in it. Count de Labrador
has strongly backed the opposition of Portugal. The discussion
has been so fierce that the Commission has adjourned its sitting,
and the matter has resumed the form of simple negotiations.

We observe again that Portugal has established as a
principle that she will not renounce the slave trade for another
eight years, and on condition that England regard the
mercantile treaty existing between her and Portugal as
null and void.

The proposition made by France was in conformity with the

362 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

engagement entered into with England to interpose her aid in
getting the abolition of the slave trade pronounced by all the
powers, we shall therefore no longer have to occupy ourselves
with this.

The other two commissions have been formed.
Prince Talleyrand has appointed as commissioners the Due
de Dalberg over the naval commission, and the Comte de la
Tour du Pin over that for fixing the precedence and rank of
crowned heads.

Russia has demanded that a delegate be appointed for the
commission of Italy, and has pointed out Count Nesselrode.
There has been no difficulty on this subject.

The affairs of Poland and Saxony have been carried a step
further without any positive result. Everything has, however,
improved with regard to Saxony. Austria has decided to
support her ; England has changed her tone ; all the Russian
and Prussian intrigues have been unmasked. The explanations
which have been made have all tended to prove that Prussia
can obtain her re-establishment on the basis of the population
which she had in 1805, without depriving Saxony of more than
three or four hundred thousand souls.

We have, in this respect, obtained what we wanted, and the
king and his policy have got the first advantages. It is possible
that Prussia, seconded by Russia, may refuse to yield ; but in
this case the forces would be very unequal, and Prussia would
risk everything. We have some grounds for hoping that she
will form a fair estimate of her position, and yield.

Austria still seems determined not to remove Murat. More
positive assurance has therefore been desired from England,
Russia seeming to be sufficiently well disposed in this respect.
Lord Castlereagh is about to ask his court for fresh instructions.
He has communicated all the correspondence on the question of
Naples to Prince Talleyrand, and has seemed to desire, rather
to support what he has written, that our records be searched
for all that may prove to the allies that Murat had a double
intrigue with Bonaparte. We doubt not that several letters of
his, and some despatches which have been preserved, can prove
it. You will therefore. Monsieur le Comte, be so good as to
transmit them to us in the originals.

Prince Eugene has said that he has some material proofs of
this, but he has refused to give them.

Prince Talleyrand gives more details on the general position
in his correspondence, but we can say with confidence that
the king and France enjoy at the conference, the position that
is their due, and the consideration shown them gives means of

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 563

exercising some degree of influence that is honourable for the
king, and which assures Europe a sound guarantee.
Be pleased to accept . . .

No. 16. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King Louis

XVIII.

Vienna, December 15, 18 14.

Sire,

The note in which the German princes of the second and
third rank were to signify their wish for the preservation
of Saxony, was on the point of being signed : it has not been
signed, and it will not be. The Duke of Coburg ^ was at the head
of these princes. His conduct cannot be too highly praised.

One of his sisters ^ was married to the Grand Duke Con-
stantine. His youngest brother is aide-de-camp of the
Grand Duke and major-general in the Russian service.*
He himself served in the Russian army. He enjoys the
good graces of the Emperor Alexander, and is an intimate
friend of the King of Prussia. Their resentment seemed likely
to fear, if he crossed their purposes, and on the other hand, if
Saxony were sacrificed there was every reason to hope that he
might get some parcels of it. All these motives were insufficient
to silence in him the claims of gratitude and of justice, or to
make him forget what he owed to his house and country. When in
1807, after the death of the duke his father, his possessions were
sequestrated, because he was in the Russian camp, and when
Bonaparte wanted to proscribe him, he was protected by the
intercession of the King of Saxony. Since then the king had
been in a position to extend his sovereignty over all the duchies
of Saxony, and he had refused. In his turn, the duke has
shown himself the zealous defender of the cause of the king.
He had had it pleaded in London by the Duke Leopold his
brother, who found the prince regent most favourably disposed

^ Ernest Anton of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld was bom in 1784. He served first
in the Russian army. After the peace of Tilsit he returned to his estates,
which he preserved intact. The Congress of Vienna gave him the principality of
Lichtenberg, but he sold it to Prussia in 1834. He promulgated a constitution in
1821, and died in 1844.

* Julie Henriette Ulrique, Princess of Saxe-Coburg, was born in 1781. She
married in 1796 the Grand Duke Constantine, brother of the Emperor Alexander,
who divorced her in 1810.

' Ferdinand Charles Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Coburg, was born in 1785, and
married to the Princess de Kohary. He had by her three sons, one of whom married
Dona Maria II., Queen of Portugal, and another the Princess Clementine, daughter
of King Louis- Philippe. Her daughter Victoria married in 1840 the Due de Nemours.
The Duke Ferdinand died ii» 1851.

364 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

towards him. He has pleaded his cause here among the
sovereigns and their ministers. He has gone so far as to remit
in his name to Lord Castlereagh a memorial in which he
combatted his arguments, and which he drew up with us.

Informed by the Duke of Weimar ^ of the note which was
being prepared, the Emperor Alexander sent for the Duke de
Coburg, and loaded him with reproaches, as much for the
memoranda he had forwarded to Lord Castlereagh, as for his
more recent doings, accusing him of intrigues, citing to him the
conduct of the Duke of Weimar as a model for him to follow,
telling him that if he had any representations to make, it was
to Prince von Hardenberg that he ought to address them, and
saying that he would now receive nothing of what had been
promised him.

The duke was noble and firm ; he spoke of his rights, as
prince of the House of Saxony, of his duties as a German
prince, and, as a man of honour he thought he was not free to
neglect them. If the Duke of Weimar thought otherwise he
could only pity him. As for himself, he had, he said, twice
compromised his position by his attachment to his Imperial
Majesty. But if to-day it was necessary to sacrifice it for the
sake of honour he was ready to do it.

On the other hand,^ the Prussians, their emissaries, and,
especially the Prince Royal of Wurtemberg have frightened a
part of the German ministers by declaring that they would con-
sider enemies all those who moved a finger in favour of Saxony.

That is why the note has not been signed. But it is known
that it was to be signed, as are also the reasons which pre-
vented it from being so. The wishes it was to express have
perhaps acquired more force from the violent attempt to
stifle it.

If I have expatiated on this circumstance at greater length
than seemed to be necessary, I have done so from the double
motive of rendering to the Duke of Coburg the justice that I
believe to be his due, and to better acquaint your Majesty with

' Charles Augustus, Duke, and afterwards Grand-Duke of Saxe-Weimar, born in
1757, lost his father at the age of eight months, and was proclaimed duke under the
regency of his mother, Amelie de Brunswick, who was then only eighteen years of
age. He entered the Prussian army, and received an important command in
the campaign of 1S06 After the battle of Jena he became member of the Con-
federation of the Rhine. In 1814, he went to the Congress at Vienna. It was
then that the title of grand-duke was conferred on him. He died in 1828. His
eldest son, Charles P'rederick, who succeeded him, had married the sister of the
Emperor Alexander, the Grand-Duchesse Marie Paulowna.

2 Text: "Deleurcote" - "on their part." Var. : "De Faulre c6te"= "on
the other hand."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 365:

the style and variety of the obstacles against which we have to
contend.

Whilst these things were taking place, the Prussians received
a letter from Prince Metternich, in which he declared to them
that the kingdom of Saxony must be preserved intact, establish-
ing by statistics subjoined to his letter, the fact that their
population will be the same as in 1805, if in addition to that
of the countries which they have retained, and that of the
available countries destined for them, three hundred and thirty
thousand Saxons only be added.

I hasten to tell your Majesty that Count von Miinster
has declared that he will renounce the increase promised to
Hanover, if it be necessary for the preservation of the kingdom
of Saxony. Your Majesty will surely learn this with pleasure,
both for the sake of what it facilitates, and the esteem it brings
to Count von Miinster.

A passage in the letter of Prince Metternich, in which he
availed himself of the opposition of France to the views
of Prussia or Saxony, having probably caused the Emperor
Alexander to fear that there was some agreement already
settled, or ready to be settled, between Austria and ourselves, he
immediately sent Prince Adam Czartoryski to me.

The prince at once renewed to me the proposal which the
Emperor Alexander had made me in the last interview I have
had the honour of having with him, namely that we should
comply with his desires as to Saxony, he promising us his support
in the question of Naples. His proposal seemed the more
acceptable that he no longer demanded the abandonment
of all Saxony, and consented to the preservation of a portion
of the kingdom.

I replied that, as to the question of Naples, I held to the
promise that the emperor had made us, that I relied on his word
of honour ; that besides in this question his interests were the
same as ours, and that he could not possibly be of a different
opinion from ourselves ; that if the question of Poland, which
must be regarded as a personal one for the Emperor Alexander,
since he had staked his satisfaction and fame on it, was decided
according to his wishes, (it has not yet been entirely settled, but
is in a fair way of being so now), he owed it to the persuasion
of Austria and Prussia that this was only a question of second-
rate importance to us ; that in the question of Saxony, which
was really foreign to the interest of the emperor, we had under-
taken to persuade the King of Saxony to make some sacrifices,
but that the spirit of conciliation could not be carried so far
as the emperor seemed to desire.

366 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

The prince spoke to me of alliance and marriage. I told him
that so many serious matters could not be treated all at once ;
that there were, besides, some matters which could not be mixed
up with others, because it would be to degrade them to the level
of merchandise.

He asked me if we had any engagements with Austria ; I
told him no ; if we should come to any, in the case of no terms
being settled between Us as to Saxony : I replied, / shoiild
be very sorry. After a moment's silence, we parted, politely,
but coldly.

The emperor, who was to have gone in the evening to a fdte
given by Prince Metternich, did not go. A sudden headache
was the cause, or the excuse. He sent the empress and the
grand-duchesses.

He requested ^ Prince Metternich to call on him the next
morning.

During the ball Prince Metternich came up to me, and after
having thanked me for a little service I had rendered him,
complained to me of the perplexity which Lord Castlereagh's
letters on Saxony had caused him. I thought that only one of
them had been very compromising (that of October nth) ; but
he spoke to me of another, which I got to-day, and of which
I inclose a copy to your Majesty. Although it is headed as
being Lord Castlereagh's, I know that it is the work of Mr.
Cook, to whom, both in contents and style, it will not do much
credit. It has been sent to the three powers who have called
themselves allies so long.

Prince Metternich promised me that on leaving the emperor
he would call on me, were it not too late, to tell me what had
passed. This time he kept his word.

The emperor was cold, dry, and severe. He pretended that
Prince Metternich told him, in the name of the Prussians, things
which they disavowed, and that, on their side, the Prussians told
him, as emanating from Prince Metternich, things opposed to
what he wrote in his letters, and that he did not know which to
believe. He reproached Prince Metternich with having inspired
I know not what ideas in Prince von Hardenberg. Prince
Metternich had with him,^ and produced a letter which proved
the contrary. The emperor took occasion of this letter to
reproach Prince Metternich with having written some unbecom-
ing letters. This reproach had some foundation. The emperor

' Text: "II fit engager . . . . le lendemain matin" = as translated. Var. :
" Le lendemain matin, il fit engager" = "The next morning he requested."
Simple inversion in the text.

• Var. : " de M. de Hardenberg" = " of Herr von Hardenberg.''

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 367

had in his possession some private and confidential letters which
he could only have obtained owing to sonie very gross indiscre-
tion on the part of the Prussians. The emperor then seemed
inclined to doubt that Prince Metternich's note contained the
real opinion of the Emperor of Austria, and added that he would
like to have an explanation with the Emperor Francis himself
Prince Metternich immediately warned ^ his master, who, should
the Emperor Alexander put any questions on the subject, will
reply that the letter was written by his orders, and contains
nothing that he disavows.

In a conference held between Prince Metternich and Prince
Hardenberg, the only difficulties raised referred to the statistics,
which were inclosed in the letter of Prince Metternich. They
parted without coming to any agreement, a proposal having
been made by Prince Metternich to appoint a commission for
verifying them.

That is, sire, the present state of affairs.

Austria only calculates that Saxony loses four hundred
thousand souls. She is^ unwilling to give up Upper Lusatia
because of the defiles of Gabel, which constitute an inlet into
Bohemia. It was by this pass that the French entered in 1813. ^^

The Emperor of Russia consents to the existence of a
kingdom of Saxony, which, according to Prince Adam Czar-
toryski, would only be half the size of that of to-day.

Finally, Prussia seems now to reduce her claims to calcu-
lations of population, and consequently to make them turn on
the results and verification of the statistics. The question is
doubtless not yet decided, but the chances are now more favour-
able than they have ever been.

Prince Metternich has offered to let me read his note. I
thanked him, saying that I knew it, but desired that he should
communicate it to me officially ; that it seemed to me he ought
to do this, since he had mentioned us in it, for which I could
reproach him, as it had been done without telling us ; that it
was necessary that we should be in a position to support it and
that we could not do so very well except upon an official com-
munication. He has given me his word to do what I asked. My
own motive for asking for an official participation, is that it will
constitute the true date of the rupture of the coalition.

I proposed some days ago the formation of a commission
to treat of the question of the slave-trade. This proposal was

^ Text: "fit prevenir" = "warned." Var. : "alia prevenir" = "went to
wam."

' Text: "ne veut point" = "is unwilling." Var. ; "ne voudrait point" =
" would hz unwilling."

368 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

about to be made, and I wished to introduce it to the Congress,
in order to do Lord Castlereagh a favour, and to dispose him by
this means to meet us on the thorny Italian questions which we
are beginning to discuss. I have gained something, for he has,
of his own accord, asked me to indicate to him in what manner
I proposed to arrange the affairs of Naples, promising to dispatch
a special messenger to receive the orders he might require. I
wrote to him the letter subjoined here. After receiving it, he
proposed to show me his correspondence with Lord Bentinck.
I have read it, and my impression now is that the English are
perfectly free in this question. But certain promises have been
made to Murat, which as men, those who made them might feel
obliged to keep, if he had himself (Murat) always faithfully kept
his own.

" I think I may say," said Lord Castlereagh to me,^ " that
Murat has entered into correspondence with Bonaparte in the
months of December 1 813, and January and February 1814 ;
but I should be very pleased to have the proof of it. That
would wonderfully facilitate my action. If you have such
proofs among your papers you would be affording me great
pleasure if you could let me have them."

In the letter I write to-day to the department I request that
search be made for any that might be found in the archives of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is possible that there
may be some traces of an understanding between Murat and
Bonaparte at the Office of the Secretary of State. ^

The Comte de Jaucourt will lay before your Majesty the two
letters which I address to-day to the department. I beg your
Majesty to be so good as to refuse the proposals which may be
made ^ to you concerning the country of Gex. None of the
conditions imposed by your Majesty have been kept. We have
also many reasons for being discontented with the Genevese who
are here. The authority of the chancellor is more than sufficient
to justify the abandoning of this question, which has been entered
upon rather precipitately.

I have the honour to be ... .

1 Var. : " m'a-t-il dit" = "said he to me."

' Var. : " Ai all events, Lord Castlereagh has made no oSJeciion to the line of policy
I proposed to follow"

' "seraient" = "may be made." Var. : " seront" = " a/»7/ be made. ''

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 369

No. 12 B. — King Louis XVIII. to the Prince de
Talleyrand.

Paris, December 18, 1 814.

My Cousin,

I am in receipt of your letter. No. 15, which has caused
me lively satisfaction. If England declares herself frankly in
favour of Saxony, union with Austria and the greater part of
Germany ought to triumph over modem ideas. I like the
firmness of the Emperor Francis, and the defection of the King
of Wurtemberg affects me but very little. I await your explana-
tion of the conduct of this prince, but, according to what I know
of him I should advise no one to enter into a very close alliance
with him.

The letters found among the papers of Lord Oxford have
thrown no light on the intrigues of Murat, but the facts found
in the letter of Leghorn, the truth of which cannot be doubted,
since Prince Metternich acknowledges his knowledge of them,
speak for themselves, and it is time ^ that all the powers should
come to an understanding together, to pluck out the last
root of the evil. On this subject M. de Jaucourt must have
informed you of the unjust, and, I daresay, ungrateful reproach
levelled against the Comte Hector d'Agoult. It would be as
well if you would speak of it to Count de Labrador, in order
that his testimony may enlighten Senor de Cevallos ^ if he is in
error, or confound him if, as I more than suspect, he belies
himself.

I look upon the desire of the emperor to see you as a good
omen. I have nothing to add to what I have told you on the
main questions ; but there is one which I should like to see
brought to a conclusion one way or another, viz., the marriage.^
I have given my ultimatum. I shall not mind what will take
place in foreign lands, but the Duchess of Berry, whoever she
may be, shall only cross the frontiers of France on making an
open confession of the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion.
On these conditions I am not only ready but eager to conclude
it. If, however, these conditions do not suit the Emperor
of Russia, let him say so ; we will none the less remain good
friends, and I will take measures for another marriage.

I regret no less than yourself your absence, but in affairs of

1 Text: " et il est temps " = " and it is time. " Var. : " et il est //»j y«« temps ''
= " and it is more than time."

2 Minister of Foreign AiTairs for Spain.

' The marriage between the Due de Berry and the Grand-Duchess Anne of
Russia, sister of the Emperor Alexander.

VOL. II. B B

370 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

such importance it is necessary to endeavour to do what Lucaa
said of Caesar.^ Whereupon, my cousin, may God have you in
His safe and holy keeping.

Louis.

No. 20 A. — The Ambassadors of the King at the Con-
gress TO THE Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, December 20, 1814.

Monsieur le Comte,

The questions of Poland and Saxony are not yet solved.
Prince Talleyrand gives an account to the king of the com-
munication made him by Prince Metternich of the letter which
the latter wrote to the Prussians, and in which he declared that
the cabinet of Vienna does not approve of the incorporation of
Saxony in Prussia.

Prince Talleyrand has replied by a letter laying special stress
on the principles which ought to be followed in arranging the
affairs of Europe. We are waiting for the Prussians to give
their decision. It was said that they had drawn up a very
strong letter, in which they lay as principles that the incorpora-
tion of Saxony in Prussia admits of no contradiction. We are
told that the Emperor of Russia himself did not wish this letter
to be sent.

Lord Castlereagh cannot conceal his embarrassment, but
also refuses to explain himself on anything. His embarrassment
arises from the fact that he has, on several occasions, abandoned
Saxony, even in writing ; and more than that, whenever he has
spoken of Poland, he has never spoken of her as great and
independent, but solely as Poland.

The affairs of Italy, Naples excepted, on which nothing
has yet been said, are progressing, and are being managed
in the right direction. Nothing, however, is yet terminated.

The conferences on Swiss affairs are advancing, and the
report which is to be submitted to the consideration of the
eight powers is being drafted. We shall have the honour of
forwarding it to the department as soon as it is ready.
Be pleased to accept ....

^ Text : " i ce que Lucain dit de Cesar = as translated. Var. : il faut s'appliquer
ce que Lucain " = " one must apply to oneself what Lucan. " . . . .

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 371

No. 17. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King
Louis XVIII.

Vienna, December 20, 1814.

Sire,

I am in receipt of the letter with which your Majesty has
deigned to honour me, dated December loth, and numbered 11.

I have the honour of sending you copies of the letter of
Prince Metternich to Prince von Hardenberg, on the subject of
Saxony, of the tables which were subjoined ^ to it, and of the
official letter which Prince Metternich has written me when com-
municating these papers to me. He accompanies the whole with
a note in his own handwriting, repeating to me, but less explicitly,
what he had already told me vivA voce, that this letter would be
the last sent by the coalition, and adding that he congratulated
himself for being of the same line of policy as the cabinet of
your Majesty for the defence of so noble a cause.

I was very eager for this communication for the reason I have
had the honour of stating to your Majesty in my preceding
letter. I desired it yet more, as probably offering me a quite
natural opportunity for making known the decisions, principles,
and views, of your Majesty. I have long sought for this
opportunity ; I tried various ways for getting it, and now that
it has offered itself, I hasten to make use of it, by addressing to
Prince Metternich the reply a copy of which I have the honour
to address herewith to your Majesty.

I have shown what the question of Poland might have been
for us, if it had been wished : why it has lost its interest, and I
added that the fault did not lie with us.

In treating of the question of Saxony, I refuted the revolu-
tionary arguments of the Prussians, and Mr. Cook in his Saxon
' question ; and I believe I have proved what hitherto Lord Castle-
reagh has been unable or refused to understand, that as a
question of the balance of power, that of Saxony is more im-
portant than that of Poland, in the condition to which the latter
now finds herself reduced. It is evident that Germany, after
having lost her own equilibrium, could not help the general
equilibrium, and that this would be destroyed were Saxony once
sacrificed.

In seeking to convince, I have aimed at not wounding
susceptibilities. I have attributed the opinions which I have
combatted to a sort of fatality, and I have praised those
monarchs who sustain them in order to induce them to abandon
them.

^ Text: "y joints" = "subjoined." Var. : " annexes ''=" annexed "

B B 2

372 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

As to your Majesty, I have not praised you. I have made
public the orders you gave us ; what could I say more ? The
facts speak for themselves.

It is said that the Prussians had prepared a note in reply to
that of Prince Metternich, and that it was couched in very violent
terms ; but that the Emperor of Russia to whom it was shown,
did not wish it to be sent.

Lord Castlereagh is like a traveller who has lost his way and
cannot find it again. Ashamed of having, belittled the Polish
question, and of having exhausted all his efforts on it, of having
been the dupe of Prussia, although we warned him of it, and of
having abandoned Saxony to her, he does not know what part
to take. Uneasy besides at the state of public opinion in
England, he proposes, it is said, to return there, for the re-
opening of Parliament and to leave Lord Clancarty here, to
continue the negotiations.

The affairs of Italy are proceeding nicely. I have good
reasons for hoping that the Queen of Etruria will have the
advantage over the Archduchesse Marie-Louise with regard to
Parma, and I am trying to arrange matters in such a way that
they may be settled without touching the legations.

The commission of precedence, for which I nominated M. de
la Tour de Pin, to whom I gave instructions in conformity with
your Majesty's resolutions on the subject, will in all probability
be in a condition to give its report in from nine to ten days
hence.

Your Majesty will perhaps find the letter I have written to
Prince Metternich rather long, but I could not make it shorter.
It is intended to be one day published and read in England and
France. All the words I employ have one special aim, which
your Majesty will also find in my voluminous correspondence.
I have the honour to be

No. 13 B. — King Louis XVIII. to the Prince
DE Talleyrand.

Paris, December 23, 1814.

My Cousin,

I am in receipt of your No. 16. I have seen the noble
and firm conduct of the Duke de Saxe-Coburg and of the Count
von Miinster with great satisfaction. You know my high
esteem for the latter, and the duke, besides the bond of 1|\\
relationship between us, is the brother of a princess of whom '

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 373

I am very fond, the Duchess Alexandre of Wurtemberg.*
But this satisfaction does not prevent me from regretting that
the note was not signed : Verba volant, scripta autem manent. I
am pleased with your interview with Prince Adam Czartoryski ;
you will have seen by my last letter that I should like a definite
reply with regard to the marriage ; but that I am far from wishing
to give it the character of a bargain.

The slave-trade question appears to be in a fair way of being
settled. As to that of Naples, which concerns me more closely,
an exceedingly vexatious report was current in Vienna, at the
time of the departure of the Due de Richelieu, which was
confirmed by private letters, but to which your silence on the
point forbids me to give credence : that Austria had strongly
declared herself in favour of Murat, and was seeking to entice
England to the same opinion. The success of your letter to
Lord Castlereagh, and that of the steps I have ordered to
be made in consequence, will soon clearly reveal what I have
to hope or fear. Nothing can be better than what you propose
in this letter, but I am not quite easy on certain promises given
to Murat. Should we — a thing of which I am not quite sure,
for Bonaparte, after his defeat, destroyed many things — should
we find the most convincing proofs of this, it is yet too well
known that an astute politician can deduce whatever he chooses
from everything. However that may be, we will pursue our
course ; I will never be found to go back one step in it.

It was for the advantage of the canton of Bern that I
consented to an exchange of a portion of the district of Gex
being exchanged ; but since the conditions I attached to it do
not meet with approval, I will refuse all consent, and I will never
more agree to an arrangement which would rob the king, my
brother-in-law ^ of anything.

Whereupon, my cousin, I pray God may have you in His safe
and holy keeping.

Louis.

^ Antoinette-Ernestine- Amelie Saxe-Coburg Saafeld, bom in 1779, married in

1798, Charles-Alexander-Frederick, Duke of Wurtemberg (1771-1833), general in

the Russian service, Governor of Livonia and Courland. She had several children,

among whom one son, Frederick-William-Alexander, bom in 1804, who married

the Princesse Marie d'Orleans, daughter of King Louis-Philippe.

^ The King of Sardinia, Victor-Emanuel I. It is known that King Louis XVIII.
had married his sister, the Princess Marie-Josephine-Louise of Savoy. At the same
time, the Comte d'Artois had married another daughter of the King Victor- Amadeus,
the Princess Marie-Therese.

374 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

No. 21 A. — The Ambassadors of the King at the
Congress to the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris.

Vienna, December 27, 1 814.

Monsieur le Comte,

We believe that we can safely say that Austria has
been brought back to the policy which the ministers of the king
at the congress have been ordered to firmly support.

The embassy of the king, following the line of principles
traced in its instructions, has essentially contributed to raising
the spirit of the cabinet of Vienna, and with inspiring it with the
energy with which it was lacking.

The Prussians, in a letter couched in rather strong terms, have
pleaded the cause of the incorporation of Saxony; Prince Metter-
nich has replied to it, and for the first time has dared to relinquish
his character of ally, and show us his letter. Prince Talley-
rand thought he ought to profit by this circumstance, for
laying bare the true principles of the policy of the French
Cabinet, and for spreading abroad the knowledge of those 'which
guide it now, and which always will. This last letter has been
laid before Lord Castlereagh and Prince Wr^de.

Prince Talleyrand encloses in his letter to the king copies of
these several documents.

You will observe, Monsieur le Comte, that the letter to
Lord Castlereagh consists of a plain and simple logic, which
ought to make this minister see that truth and justice are one,
and cannot triumph by means of the arguments he has hitherto
made use of.

We are informed that the Emperor Francis has been
again attacked by the Emperor Alexander, who asked
him if he had read the note of the Prussian cabinet, to which
the Emperor Francis replied, that he had read it attentively :
tliat he had already, before reading it, taken this position,
but that he was more determined than ever 7iot to consent
to the incorporation of Saxony in Prussia.

Since then the Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia
have nominated plenipotentiaries to treat the question of the
limits of Poland and the affairs of Saxony. We notice that the
Emperor of Russia has chosen Count de Rasoumowski, as likely
to be agreeable to the court of Vienna. Prince Metternich will
treat for Austria, and Prince von Hardenberg for Prussia. Baron
von Wessemberg will act as secretary.

This affair is thus at last going to be treated officially ; it may
encounter some opposition, but will, in all probability, terminate
to the greatest advantage of Russia.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 375

In order to conciliate and reconcile the various statistics
which the Prussian and the other cabinets submitted for the
execution of the agreements entered into in the different
treaties, Lord Castlereagh had proposed that a commission
should be formed for this purpose. The Prussians consented, on
condition that French commissioners be rigorously excluded.
Lord Stewart was deputed to announce this insolent arrange-
ment to M. de Talleyrand. The latter, keenly resenting the
breach of propriety of this proceeding, declared that a French
commissioner should be admitted, or that the French embassy
should leave Vienna on the morrow. He added that he wished
for a reply the same evening. The reply was given affirmatively
and in the most deferential terms. The commission is composed
of:

1. Lord Clancarty ;

2. Count von Miinster ;

3. Baron von Wessemberg ;

4. Herr von Jordan, Prussian Councillor of State ;

5. Herr von Hoffmann ; ^

6. The Due de Dalberg ;

7. The Baron de Martin, as secretary.

The Prussian commissioners were at the same time accepted
as Russian commissioners also ; but, at the second sitting, it
was announced that Baron von Anstett was to be adjoined to
them for Russia.

We forward to your department the protocol of the meetings.

This general situation of affairs leads us to entertain the
hope that Russia is about to bring the Polish question to a close,
and that, after having obtained what she wanted, she will relax
her efforts on behalf of Prussia.

The King of Wurtemberg has grown weary of all this
delay, and left Vienna yesterday for his own capital.

There is a rumour abroad that he has signed a special agree-
ment, in which he consents to the incorporation of Saxony with
Prussia. Count von Winzingerode, his minister, has assured the
Due de Dalberg that the fact was not true, and that the conver-
sations of the Prince Royal of Wurtemberg, who is on the eve
of his wedding, the Grand Duchess of Oldenburg, could alone
have given rise to this report.

The Germans see this marriage with regret, because they
begin to see in Russia intentions which alarm them. ^

^ Tohan Godfried Hoffmann, economist and German statesman. Bom at Breslau in
1 765, he was at first professor of political economy at Kcenigsberg. He was appointed
Councillor of State in 1808, attended the treaty of Paris and the Congress of Vienna,
and accompanied Prince von Hardenberg on several diplomatic missions; He died in
1847.

376 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

Indeed, the Prince Royal of Wurtemberg, is now on intimate
terms with Baron von Stein, whose hero he has become. They
are drawing up together constitutions, in which each of them is
to play a part ; and, it is probable that this intrigue will open
the eyes of the other States of Germany, and induce them to
prefer a kind of military league to a constitution of which they
all might be the dupes.

No decision has yet been taken as regards Italian affairs,
and the question of navigation ; but the commission appointed
to arrange matters of rank and precedence, has sat twice. After
a rather long debate on the subject submitted, it eventually
agreed on most articles. That relative to salute at sea gave rise
to objections on the part of the English commissioner ; but, as
he only spoke of America it will be easy, by offering to leave
that matter undecided as regards the United States, to ascertain
whether England's objections really applied only to America.
The principles set forth in the instructions given by his Majesty
formed the basis of this decision, which may be regarded as their
direct application.

There only remains for us to call the attention of the
ministry to various articles of Prussian newspapers, which should
not be allowed to pass unnoticed.

The Correspondant de Nuremberg, in its issue 355, publishes
two such articles, reproduced from the Gazette d'Aix-la-Chapelle ;
these articles are most unwarrantable.

It would be well to acquaint the German public with the
conduct of Prussia for the Tast sixty years, and to quote simply
facts, in order to explain the motives which should keep France
from associating her policy with that of this power.

It is necessary to call attention to the fact that, in her
eyes, the end justifies the means, that she stops at no scruple,
that the only law she recognizes is her own convenience ; that for
the last sixty-five years she raised her population from less than
four to more than ten million subjects, and that she has succeeded
in cutting out for herself, as it were, an immense framework of
dominion, by acquiring here and there territories which she
tends to swallow by annexing the interlying territories ; that the
terrible downfall brought upon her by her ambition has been no
lesson to her ; that if, at this present time, Germany is still in a
state of agitation, this is due to Prussia and her insinuations ;
that she was the first to adopt in Franconia the system of
incorporation, the first to withdraw at Basel, from the policy of
resistance to the Revolution, the only one to urge the loss of the
left bank of the Rhine. . . .

It is necessary to give an energetic answer to the threats

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 377

proffered by her plenipotentiaries regarding the consequences a
new war might have on the tranquility of France. (You will
observe, Monsieur le Comte, that the articles to be written in
refutation of the above allegations are only to appear in second-
class newspapers).

Be pleased to accept ....

No. 18. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King
Louis XVIII.

^ Vienna, December 28, 1814.

Sire,

Whilst I was writing to Prince Metternich the letter, a
copy of which I have had the honour to forward to your Majesty,
the Prussians were replying to his letter of December 12 and
called his attention to the note addressed to them by him on
October 22, and put him in contradiction with himself; they
endeavoured to justify their pretensions on Saxony by reference
to authorities and precedents, and contested chiefly the correct-
ness of the calculations on which Prince Metternich based his
views.

Lord Castlereagh being authorized to communicate to me
this reply of the Prussians, called on me, for the purpose of
acquainting me with it. (It will be handed to me, and I
shall have the honour of sending it to your Majesty by the next
messenger.) He read it to me. I said that their arguments
were but sophistry. I pointed out that the authorities and
precedents to which they referred were devoid of weight and
force, the cases and times being no longer the same. In my
turn, I showed Lord Castlereagh my letter ^ to Prince Metternich.
He read it very quietly, from beginning to end and returned it
to me, without saying a word, either of approval or contradiction.

The object of his visit was to acquaint me with his intention
of proposing that a commission be appointed to verify the
accounts furnished by Austria and Prussia respectively. I
replied that I had no objection to such a course being adopted,
but that, if in this case, as in many others, we proceeded at
random, without rule or fixed principle, we should obtain no
result ; that it was thus necessary to begin by adopting principles ;
that, before verifying accounts, it was indispensable to acknow-
ledge the rights of the King of Saxony, and that, on this subject,
we might, Prince Metternich and myself, come to some agree-
ment.

^ Var. : note.

378 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

" An agreement ? " he said, " it is an alliance, then you
propose ? "

" This agreement," 1 replied, " may very well take place
without alliance, but, if you wish, it can be an alliance, I have no
objection."

" But an alliance presupposes, war, or may lead to it, and we
ought to do everything in our power to avoid it."

" That is also my opinion, every sacrifice should be made to
prevent war, every sacrifice, that is, except that of honour, justice
and the future of Europe. War," he added, " would not be
readily accepted by our people."

" A war would be popular with you, whose aim should be
really grand, whose object should be for the good of Europe."

" And what might be that aim } "

" The re-establishment of Poland."

He did not reject this suggestion and simply contented
himself with replying : " Not yet." I had only given the con-
versation this turn, to sound him, and to find out what he would
be prepared to do in such and such a case.

" Whether it be," I said, " by an agreement, or by letter that
we recognize the rights of the King of Saxony, or by a protocol
signed by you. Prince Metternich and myself, the form is in-
different, the recognition itself is all I care about.

" Austria," he replied, " has officially recognized the rights of
the King of Saxony ; you have also recognized them officially ;
as for myself, I recognize \}s\zva. froin a higher point of view. Is
therefore the difference between us such as to demand the act
you suggest .■'"

We separated, after having agreed to his forming a
commission, for which each of us should appoint a pleni-
potentiary.

The next morning he sent Lord Stewart to tell me that
every one assented to the commission being formed, and that no
objection was made to it except that a French plenipotentiary
in it was refused.

" Who objects to that t " I indignantly asked Lord Stewart.

He said, " It is not my brother." ^

" Who then .? " said I.

He hesitated in answering. " But .... it is .... "

And finished by faltfering out the word allies.

At this word all my patience forsook me, and without, in my
expressions, going further than was fitting, I showed a spirit
which was too strong to be merely termed heat or vehemence.
I traced the only conduct, which, in such circumstances as these,

' Lord Castlereagh.

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 379

Europe was to expect from the ambassadors of such a nation
as England, and, speaking of what Lord Castlereagh had never
ceased to do since we had been at Vienna,^ I said that his conduct
would not be overlooked, that it would be judged in England,
as it deserved, and I let him foresee the consequences of
it. I treated Lord Stewart himself no less severely for his
devotion to the Prussians, and concluded by declaring that if
they wished always to be what they had shown themselves at
Chaumont and to cling to the coalition for ever, France owed it
to her dignity to retire from the congress, and that if the pro-
posed commission were formed without a French plenipotentiary
being invited to it, his Majesty's embassy would not remain
anodier day at Vienna.. Lord Stewart demurred strongly to
this, and, with an alarmed look, ran to his brother. I followed
him a few minutes afterwards, but Lord Castlereagh was not
there.

In the evening, I received a note from him in his own hand-
writing, in which he told me that, having heard from his brother
what I wanted, he had at once acquainted our colleagues with
my wish, and that all had agreed with pleasure to do what was
agreeable to me.

The same evening, Prince Metternich, whom I had seen
during the day, made to the powers who were to concur in the
formation of the commission, the proposal that the decision
aiTived at by the said commission should have the force of law.
He subjoined two riders to which I readily subscribed : one
that the valuation of claims should comprise all the territories
taken from France and her allies ; the other that it should be
brought to bear solely on population. But I stipulated in
addition that the population should be estimated not according
to number merely, but according to its wealth. For a Polish
peasant without capital, without land, without means of liveli-
hood, ought not to be put in the same rank as an inhabitant of
the left bank of the Rhine or of the more fertile and richer
districts of Germany.

The commission, for which I chose ^ M. de Dalberg to
represent your Majesty, met on the following day. It is working
without interruption, and Lord Clancarty displays on this
occasion the same zeal, uprightness, and energy as in the
commission on Italian affairs, of which he is also a member.

Justice compels me to say that Lord Castlereagh, displayed
in this matter less illwill than weakness ; but his weakness was

1 Text: "depuis que nous etions" = "since we had been." Var. ; "depuis
qi^U Hait" = " since he had been."
' " Var. ! "appointed."

38o THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

all the less excusable^ that the opposition which he expressed
proceeded only from the Prussians.

Two points in my note to Prince Metternich pleased the
Austrian cabinet : the declaration by which France does not
claim anything for herself, and that which concludes my note.
After having read the latter, the Emperor of Austria said to
Herr von Sickingen : " I share all the opinions expressed
therein."

The Emperor of Russia, having asked him if he had read
the answer of the Prussians to the note of Prince Metternich, /
dated December lo, he replied : " Before reading it, I had made
up my mind, and my opinion on the subject is still stronger
since I read that answer." He is even said to have added r
" Let us arrange ^ matters, if possible, but I beg your Majesty
not to mention these statements any more."

He said to the King of Bavaria : " I am an Austrian by
birth, but I have a Bohemian head.^' My mind is made up as
regards the affairs of Saxony ; I shall not alter it."

Prince Czartoryski, to whom I communicated my note to
Prince Metternich, had a copy of it made^ which he placed under
the eyes of the Emperor Alexander. The latter was pleased
with the portion of it concerning himself and his interests.

He admits that France is the only power whose language
has not varied, and which has not deceived him. He, however,
detected, as he thought, that he was indirectly reproached with
not remaining true to his principles, and sent Prince Czartoryski
to tell me that his principles had for their object the happiness of
nations, to which I replied that these were also at all times the
principles of all the leaders of the French Revolution. Besides, a
scruple arising from the fear lest the King of Saxony should feel
very miserable with the portion of his dominions which your
Majesty wishes to preserve to him has arisen in the mind of the
Czar. He does not pity the present position of that sovereign, a
prisoner and despoiled of his kingdom, but his future prospect
when he will have regained possession of his throne, and re-
entered the palace of his ancestors. But this scruple no longer
bears any evidence of the former staunch resolution on the part
of the Czar * of sparing the King of Saxony that misfortune.

As for the Prussians, when consenting to the formation of
the commission of statistics, and sending their plenipotentiaries
to it, they evidently subordinated their claims and hopes on

^ Var. -. " all the more inexcusable."

° Var. " arrange."

^ A German idiomatic expression, meaning to be obstinate. — (Translator.)

* Text: "resolution." Var. : " rifiexion" = "reflection."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 381

Saxony to the result of the discussions of the commission,
and that result will, in all probability, be favourable to Saxony.

Thus the affairs of Saxony are in a better situation than they
ever were.

Those of Poland are not yet concluded ; but their conclusion
is being mooted. Counts Rasoumowski and Capo d' I stria are to
represent Russia. Prince Metternich is to be the Austrian
plenipotentiary. He is bent on giving those deliberations a
most official character. Baron von Wessemberg is to draw up the
protocols. Prince von Hardenberg is to be the Prussian pleni-
potentiary. Seeing that these negotiations will only deal with
delimitation of territories, this matter will be settled in a few
days.

Although I have given my letter to Prince Metternich to
Lord Castlereagh to read, I thought fit to send him a copy of
it, that it may be found amongst his papers whenever they may
be asked for by Parliament, and I have inclosed with it, not
merely a letter to present it to him, but the one a copy of which
I have the honour to subjoin here. The great problem for the
congress to solve, is here put under a new form, and reduced to
the most simple terms. The premises are so incontestable, and
the consequences follow so necessarily from them, that no
objection seems to be possible. I was therefore not much sur-
prised when Prince Metternich told me that Lord Castlereagh,
who showed ^ him the letter, seemed rather embarrassed by it.

There exists in Italy, as in Germany, a sect of Unionists, that
is to say of people who aspire to making Italy one single state.
Austria, warned of this, arrested a great number in one night,
amongst whom three generals of division were compromised ^ ;
and the papers of the party have been seized at the house of a
professor named Rosari.' It is not known by whom Austria
was informed of the plot. Some think it was by Murat, and
that he delivered up some of his confederates in order to win
favour with the court here.

Your Majesty has seen by the papers I have sent, that I do
not allow the affair of Naples to escape my attention. I do
not either lose sight of the delenda Carthago, but it is not
possible to begin with that.

''■ Text: "qui lui a montre" = "who showed him." Var. : "qui lui avail
montre" = "who had shown him."

^ Text: " Compromis" = "compromised." Var.: " comfris" = "comprised."
' Giovanni Rosari, bom in 1766 at Parrria, was a distinguished physician. In
1796. he was one of the first to welcome the new state of things created in Italy by
the French. He was Rector of the University of Pavia, and secretary-general to the
Minister of the Interior. Compromised in a plot against Austria in 1814, he was
arrested and imprisoned. He died in 1837.

382 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

I have also the marriage question in my thoughts. Cir-
cumstances have so changed that if, a year ago, it was your
Majesty who desired this alliance, to-day it is for the Emperor
of Russia to seek it. But this point requires developments
which I beg your Majesty to allow me to reserve for a special
letter which I shall have the honour of writing to your Majesty.

When this letter reaches your Majesty, we shall be in a new
year. I shall not have had the pleasure of being near you, sire, on
its opening day, and of presenting my respectful congratulations
and sincere wishes to your Majesty. I beg your Majesty ta
allow me now to offer them, and hope that your Majesty will
deign to accept the homage.

I have the honour to be ... .

No. 14 B. — ItiNG Louis XVIII. to the Prince de
Talleyrand.

Paris, December 27, 1814.

My Cousin,

I have just been informed that a treaty of peace and
amity between England and the United States was signed on the
24th inst. You will surely have been aware of it before this
despatch reaches you, and I feel satisfied that you will ' have
taken all the steps required by the circumstances. Nevertheless
I hasten to charge you, while congratulating Lord Castlereagh
on this fortunate event, to bring before his notice all tHe'advan-
tage that Great Britain can derive from it. Free, henceforth, in the
disposal of all her means, what nobler employment could she
make of them than to assure the tranquillity of Europe, on the
basis of equity, the only really firm basis ? And can she attain
this end better than by allying herself closely to us ? The Prince
Regent and myself are the only parties disinterested ^ in the
affair. Saxony never was the ally of France, Naples has never
been in a position to assist her in war, and the same remark
applies to England. I am, it is true, the nearest relation of these
two kings ; but, I am, before everything else. King of France,
and father of my people. It is for the honour of my crown, for
the welfare of my subjects, that I cannot allow the seeds of an
European war to be sown in Germany ; that I cannot over-
look the presence of an usurper in Italy, whose existence,

^ Text: " que vouz c«rif2 faites "..." which you OTz7/ have made. " Var. : "que
vous avez faites " . "which you have made."

' Text: " les seuls desint'.resses dans cette affaire. La Saxe..." = " the only dis-
interested parties in this affair. Saxony..." Var.: 'Hes plus disintiressis dans cetU
affaire, car la Saxe " = "the mast disinterested parties in this affair, /w Saxony."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 383

constitutes a crying shame for all sovereigns, and threatens the
internal tranquility of all states. The same sentiments animate
the Prince Regent, and it is with the liveliest satisfaction that I
see him more and more attached to them.

I have just spoken to you as your king, and I cannot refuse
to speak to you also as man to man. There is a case which I
ought not to foresee, and in which I should consider the ties of
blood alone. If the two kings, my cousins, were deprived of
their sceptres, as I was for a long time, then I should hasten
to welcome them, to supply their wants, care for them in their
misfortune, in a word, to imitate with regard to them what
several sovereigns, and especially the Prince Regent, have
done for me, and like them, in so doing, I should gratify at
once, my feelings and my dignity. But that such a case
will not happen, I have for warrant the generosity of some,
and the true interest ^ of all. Whereupon, 'my cousin, I pray
God may have you in His safe and holy keeping.

Louis.

No. IS B. — King Louis XVIII. to the Prince
DE Talleyrand.

Paris, December ii, 1814.2

My Cousin,

I am in receipt of your note under No. 17. Prince Metter-
nich's letter pleased me, because at last Austria has finally pledged
herself, but your reply pleased me still more. I do not know
if it can be abridged, but I know very well that I should not
desire it, first because it says everything, and nothing that is.
unnecessary ; and secondly because I find there is more of this,
urbanity so useful, and often so indispensable in business, in
developing one's ideas, than in expressing ^ them in too laconic
terms.

That which you say of the embarrassment in which Lord
Castlereagh finds himself placed, proves to me that I did right
in sending you my last despatch. He perhaps does not perceive *
that the peace with America offers to him a fine opportunity for
retracing his steps.

I am very glad that the afifairs of the Queen of Etruria are

1 Text : " le veritable interet " = "the true interest." Var. : "Vinth-H = "the
interest"

' Text: " Decembre 28, 1814" = "December 28, 1814." Var.: " Dlcembre
30, 1814" = "December 30, 1814."

' Text: "exprimer" = "to express." Var. : "exposer" — 'io expose.''

* Text: " II est possible qu'il n'apercoive pas " = " he perhaps does not perceive."
Var. : "II est possible qu'U n'apercut " = " he perhaps did not see."

384 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

taking a better turn, but I only consider this as another step
achieved towards the attainment of another aim to which I
attach a thousandfold more importance.

M. de Jaucourt doubtless informs you of what M. de
Butiakin ^ told him ; you are in a better position than I am to
know the truth concerning things at Vienna ; but, if it is true,
as seems probable, that the Russian nation, which, in spite of
its autocracy,^ counts for something, and feels some interest
in the subject of the wedding, must remember that he who
wants the end, wants the means. As to me, I have given my
ultimatum, and I shall not modify it. Whereupon, my cousin,
I pray God may have you in His safe and holy keeping.

Louis.

No. 22 A. — The Ambassadors of the King at the
Congress, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs at

Paris.

Vienna, /awaary 3, 1815.
Monsieur le Comte,

The situation of affairs is improved, and Austria and
England are better disposed towards the policy that the king
has defended and sustained hitherto.

The Russian Cabinet at the second conference, which was
held to divide the grand-duchy of Warsaw, submitted articles
which contained all its own claims as well as those of Prussia.

These are based on the principle that the grand-duchy of
Warsaw is Russia's, and that therefrom she detaches portions,
which she hands over to Prussia and Austria. The incorporation
of Saxony in Prussia is positively settled, and an equivalent of
seven hundred thousand souls stipulated for in favour of the
King of Saxony, on the left bank of the Rhine. We may hope
that by means of mutual agreement, these proposals will be
rejected. The Prussian negotiators requested a counter project,
which will soon be drafted.

The discussion of Italian affairs are about to be resumed.
After three weeks' waiting, the commission has received the
report of Austria on the questions of Tuscany and Parma

The report on Swiss affairs will be discussed to-morrow by
the commission summoned for the purpose. The proposition
relative to the exchange of Gex will be discarded.

The Emperor of Russia is embarrassed by the position he has
taken up. He himself had told Prince Talleyrand that he

^ An attache to the Russian embassy at Paris.
' Var. : " arisiocratie" = "aristocracy."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 385

wished France to share in the discussions which were to take
place in the commission summoned on the affairs of Poland
and Saxony. On the morrow, his minister, Count Rasu-
mowski, refused permission to Prince Talleyrand to attend
the conferences. Such is the inconsistency of this sovereign's
proceedings. '

There is still, however, some reason to hope that he will forego
some of his pretensions. It is expected that the King of Saxony
will have to submit to the loss of half his states ; but that the
principle of his existence as a sovereign will be secured, and that
what can yet be obtained from the portion of the grand-duchy
of Warsaw, which Russia wishes to incorporate, will necessarily
have to be subtracted from the portion accruing to Prussia by
virtue of the different treaties made between the allied Powers.

Be pleased to accept

No. 19. — The Prince de Talleyrand to King
Louis XVIII.

Vienna, January 4, 181 5.

Sire,

I am in receipt of the letter with which your Majesty has
deigned to honour me, dated the 23rd of last month.

On the 2 1st of the present month, the anniversary of the day
when was perpetrated that deed to be held up to the execration,
and devoted to the tears and mourning of all future generations,
a solemn service of expiation will be held in one of the principal
churches of Vienna. I have ordered the preparations for it to
be made. In ordering them, I have not only followed the
impulse of my heart, but I also thought that it was necessary ^
that the ambassadors of your Majesty, as interpreters of the
grief of France, should show it in foreign lands and under the
eyes of assembled Europe. Everything in this sad ceremony,
must be in accordance with the grandeur of its object, to the
greatness of the crown of France, and to the exalted rank of
those who will in all probability witness it.

All the members of the congress will be invited to it, and I
am informed that they will all come. The Emperor of Austria
has told me that he would be present. His example will certainly
be followed by the other sovereigns. The most distinguished
company of Vienna, of both sexes, will make it a duty to go
there. I do not yet know what it will cost, but it is a necessary
-expense.

^ Text: " qu'il fallait " = "that it was necessary." Var.: " c^'-iS. convenait" =
" that it -was fitting."

VOL. II. C C

386 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

The news of the signing of the treaty of peace between England
and America was announced on New Year's day by a letter from
Lord Castlereagh. I hastened to give him my congratulations ;
and I congratulated myself for it, knowing well the influence th^t
this event might have both on the arrangements of this minister,
and on the resolutions of those whose pretensions we have hitherto
had to combat. Lord Castlereagh showed me the treaty. It
hurts the honour of neither party, and will consequently satisfy
both of them.

This good news was only the forerunner of some better stilh
1 The spirit of the coalition and the coalition itself, had
survived the peace of Paris. My correspondence up to the present
date offers numerous proofs of it. If the projects that I found
established here on my arrival, had been put into execution,
France would have found herself, for some fifty years, isolated
in Europe, without friendly intercourse with a single power.
All my efforts were directed to preventing such a misfortune ;
but my most sanguine hopes never went so far as to lead me to
expect complete success.

But now, sire, the coalition is destroyed, and destroyed for
ever. Not only is France no longer isolated in Europe ; but
your Majesty has already a federal system such as fifty years of
negotiations held out no prospect of giving.^

She is acting in concert with two of the greatest powers, three
states of the second rank, and soon will with all the states that
follow other principles or other maxims than the principles and
maxims of revolution. She will in reality be the chief and soul
of this union, formed for the defence of principles which she has
been the first to inculcate.

A change so great and so fortunate can be attributed to the
protection of that Providence alone which was so visibly mani-
fested in the return ^ of your Majesty.

After God, the efficient causes of this change have been the
following : —

My letters to Prince Metternich and Lord Castlereagh and
the impression they produced ;

The hints dropped to Lord Castlereagh relative to an agree-
ment with France, of which my last letter to your Majesty gave
a full account ;

The care I have taken to quiet his suspicions, by showing, in
the name of France, the most perfect disinterestedness ;

^ Text : " ne semblaient pas pouvoir parvenir ^ le lui donner = " apparently held
out no prospect of giving him." Var. : "ne semblermsnt" = "would apparently
have held out no prospect . . . ."

^ Text: "dans le retour" = "in the return.'' Var. : "par le retour" ="^_y
the return."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 387

The peace with America, which, by getting him out of his
anxiety on that side, has left him more free to act, and has given
him more courage ;

Finally, the claims of Russia and Prussia, set forth in the
Russian proposal, of which I here subjoin a copy ; and, above
all, the tone in which the claims have been advanced and sus-
tained in a conference between their plenipotentiaries and those
of Austria. The arrogant tone taken in this shameful and pre-
posterous document so wounded Lord Castlereagh that, forsaking
his habitual calm, he exclaimed that the Russians were claiming
to lay down the law, and that England would accept it from no
one.

All this had formed his opinion, and I profited by this to
insist on the agreement of which I had long been speaking to
him. He was sufficiently excited to propose to write me his
views on the subject. The day after this conversation he called
on me, and I was greatly surprised to find that he had drawn up
his ideas in the form of articles.

I had, till now, accustomed him to but little praise from me,
which rendered him all the more sensible now to what I said of
his project. He asked Prince Metternich and myself to read it
attentively. In the evening,^ and after having made some
alterations in the wording, we adopted it under the form of a
convention. In some articles the draft ought to have been mjjre
carefully made, but with people of weak characters the great
thing is to press on to the end, and we signed it to-night. I
hasten to forward it to your Majesty.

Your Majesty had authorized me by letter, and especially
by the particular instruction of October 25, to promise Austria
and Bavaria the most zealous co-operation, and, consequently, to
stipulate in favour of these two powers, the aid which the forces,
which would be brought against them in case of war, should
render necessary. Your Majesty authorized me to do this, even
on the supposition of England remaining neutral. Now England
has to-day become an active party, and with her the united
provinces of the Netherlands and Hanover, which makes the
position of France superb.

General Dupont having written to me on November 9 that
your Majesty would have a hundred and eighty thousand men
to dispose of on January i, and one hundred thousand more on
March i, without levying any fresh recruits, I thought that a
help of one hundred and fifty thousand men might be stipulated
without inconvenience. England engaging herself to furnish the

^ Text : "Dans la soiree" = "in the evening." Var. : "Je pris heure dans la
soiree et apris" = " I fixed an honr in the evening, and afterwards."

388 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

same number of troops, France could not remain behind her in
this respect.

The agreement being made only in case of protection being
wanted, the aid would only be furnished in case of attack ; and
there is the greatest possible probability that Russia and Prussia
will not run this risk.

At the same time the case might happen, and render a
military convention necessary, so I beg your Majesty to be so
good as to order that General Ricard ^ be sent to my aid. He
enjoys the confidence of the marshal, Due de Dalmatie : having
been for some time in Poland, and especially at Warsaw he
possesses local knowledge which may prove very useful in
arrangements of this character, and the opinion he has given
me of his merits and ability causes me to prefer him to any
other. But he must come incognito, and the Minister of War,
after having given him the necessary documents, must enjoin
on him the most profound secrecy. According to what I have
heard of him, he has been well brought up. and your Majesty,
if you thought fit, might give him his orders in person.

I beg your Majesty to be so good as to order that the
ratifications of the convention be expedited, and returned to
me as promptly as shall be possible.^ Your Majesty will surely
see the necessity of commanding M. de Jaucourt to employ for
this work only men of tried discretion.

Austria being unwilling to send ^ messengers to Paris to-day,
so as to avoid arousing suspicions, and wishing her minister to
be acquainted with the text of the convention desires that M. de
Jaucourt may give it to read to Herr de Vincent, telling him
it must be kept secret.*

I hope your Majesty will likewise be so good as to include
these two documents in the collection of all those that I have
had the honour to send you up to the present.

The agreement we have just come to is to get the dis-
positions of the treaty of Paris completed, in a manner most
consonant with the true spirit and best interests of Europe.

But if war should break out, we could give it an aim which
would render it almost infallible, and procure incalculable
advantages for Europe.

'^ Ktienne Ricard, bom in 1771 at Castres, enlisted as n volunteer in 1792. He
was afterwards Soult's aide-de-camp, and was promoted to be general of brigade in
1806. He rallied to the Bourbons in 1814, and was made a peer of France. He
retired in 182 1, and died in 1843.

* Text: " le plus promptement qu'il sera possible" = "as promply as shall be
possible." Var. : " le plus promptement possible" — " as promptly as possible."

' Var.: " e.nvo'j&r atijourd'hui {la i.&ni. to-day).

* Var. -. " egalement " = " at the same time."

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 389

France, in a war carried on with noble aims,^ would succeed
in winning back the esteem and confidence of all nations, and
such a conquest is worth more than that of one or several
provinces, the possession of which is, fortunately necessary
neither to her real force or her prosperity.^

I have the honour to be ... .

APPENDIX I.

We subjoin here the text of the convention of January 3, 1815, although
we have found no copy of it in M. de Talleyrand's papers, no more than of some
other papers which have been mentioned in his despatches. But this convention
was published in the English State papers, whence we reproduce it, and we subjoin
to it some details partly ignored, and possibly forgotten by M. de Talleyrand, as to
the

Secret Treaty of Defensive Alliance concluded at Vienna, January

3RD, 1815.
Between Austria, France, and Great Britain.

In the name of the Most Holy and indivisible Trinity,

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
His Majesty the King of France and Navarre, and His Majesty the Emperor of
Austria, King of Himgary and Bohemia, being convinced that the Powers, to
whose share it falls to complete the provisions of the treaty of Paris, ought to be
in a positiou of perfect security and independence, in order to be able to acquit
themselves with the fidelity and dignity requisite to so important a duty, and con-
sequently, considering it necessary, in face of pretensions recently put forth, to
provide means of repulsing any aggression to which their own possessions, or those
of one of their number might be exposed, from a. spirit of opposition to the
measures they might have thought it their duty to adopt and sustain by common
consent, according to the principles of justice and equity ; and having not less at heart
the completion of the dispositions of the Treaty of Paris, in a manner that may be
most conformable to its true aim and spirit, have for these ends resolved to make a
solemn convention and defensive alliance together.

Wherefore, his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, has nominated, as his plenipotentiary in this matter, the most honourable
Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh

His Majesty the King of France and Navarre, M. Charles-Maurice de Talley-

rand-Perigord, Prince de Talleyrand And His Majesty the Emperor 'of

Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, Herr Clement-Wenceslas-Lothaire, Prince
' of Mettemich-Winneburg Ochsenhausen

Who, after having exchanged their powers, which were found to be duly drawn
up, agreed to the following articles : —

First Article. — The high contracting Powers mutually agree, individually and
collectively, to act in concert, with the most perfect disinterestedness and complete
good faith, in order to put into execution the arrangements of the treaty of
Paris necessary to complete its dispositions, and to see that they be carried out in a
manner that shall be most conformable to the true spirit of the treaty.

If, consequent upon this, and from aversion to proposals that may have been made
and sustained by common agreement, the possessions of any of them were attacked,

' Var. : " aussi noblement faite" = " so nobly carried on."

' See Appendix I. and II. (Part viii. Vol. II.), containing the text of the treaty
of January 3, and a long note of the Marquis de Bacourt.

390 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

at such time and in such circumstances, they promise and bind themselves to consider
them all three as attacked, to make common cause with the one attacked, and to
assist each other in repelling any such aggression with all the forces hereafter specified.

Art. II. — If for the reasons above mentioned, which can only give rise to the
present alliance, one of the high contracting powers were to be threatened by one
or several powers, the two other signatories shall be bound to do their utmost, by
means of a friendly intervention, to prevent hostilities.

Art. III. — In case their efforts to attain that aim failed, the high contracting
powers promise to come immediately to the help of the power attacked, each of
them with an army of one hundred and fifty thousand men.

Art. IV. — Each aforesaid army will be composed respectively of one hundred
and twenty thousand men of infantry, and thirty thousand men of cavalry, with a
train of artillery and ammunition proportionate to the number of troops.

In order to contribute more efiSciently to the defence of the power attacked or
threatened, the auxiliary troops aforesaid will have to be ready to take the field
within a delay of six weeks at the latest, after being called upon to do so.

Art. V. — The situation of the countries which might become the seat of war,
or other circumstances being likely to prevent England from providing, within the
appointed delay, the stipulated contingent of English troops, and keeping it on a
war-footing, His Britannic Majesty reserves to himself the right of providing foreign
levies as his share of troops to the power requiring his help, the said foreign levies
to be in the pay of England, or to pay annually to the power in question a sum of
money calculated at the rate of £,20 for each infantry soldier, and of ^yii for a
horseman, until the stipulated help have been completed.

The way in which Great Britain will have to provide her help will be arranged
privately between His Britannic Majesty and the power threatened, as soon as the
latter shall have claimed the said help.

Art. VI. — The high contracting powers agree, in case war should break out, to
arrange privately the mode of co-operation best suited to the nature as well as to
the object of the war, and to settle in like manner the plans of campaign, all matters
relative to command, respecting which every facility shall be afforded, the lines
of operation of the troops respectively employed, the marches of those troops and
their provisions in food and forage.

Art. VII. — If it should be found that the help stipulated be not proportionate
to the requirements of circumstances, the high contracting powers reserve to them-
selves the right of making together, within the shortest possible delay, a fresh
arrangement fixing the additional help which may be deemed necessary.

Art. VIII. — The high contracting powers mutually agree that in case those who
shall have provided the help stipulated above, should, lor that reason, be involved in
direct war with the power against which their help shall have been provided, the
power that shall have claimed help and the powers from whom such help shall have
been claimed, waging war as auxiliaries, shall make peace only by mutual consent.

Art. IX. — The stipulations agreed upon in the present treaty shall not alter or
modify in any way any provision which the high contracting powers, or any of them,
may have previously agreed upon or may subsequently consent to with other powers,
inasmuch that those provisions are not or shall not be contrary to the object of the
present alliance.

Art. X. — The high contracting powers, having no intention of aggrandizing
themselves, and being solely animated by the desire of mutually protecting themselves
in the exercise of their rights and in the fulfilling of their duties as independent states,
agree, in case, which God forbid, war were to break out, to consider the Treaty of
Paris as the legal basis on which, at the time of signing the peace, the nature, extent,
and frontiers of their respective dominions should be settled.

Art. XI. — They moreover agree to settle all other matters by mutual consent,
whilst adhering, as far as circumstances will permit, to the principles and provisions
of the aforesaid Treaty of Paris.

Art. XII. — The high contracting powers reserve to themselves, by the present'
compact, the right of inviting all other powers to accede to this treaty in such delays
and under such conditions as shall have been agreed between them.

Art. XIII. — His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and.'

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA.

391

Ireland, having on the Continent no possession which could be attacked in case of
war alluded to in the present treaty, the high contracting powers agree that if such
war should break out, and the possessions of his Majesty the King of Hanover or
those of his Highness the Sovereign Prince of the United Provinces of the Netherlands,
as well as those submitted to his rule, were attacked, the said contracting powers shall
be obliged to act, in order to repulse that aggression, as though the latter were
directed against their own territory.

Art. XIV. — The present convention shall be rati6ed, and its ratifications ex-
changed at Vienna, within six weeks, or sooner if possible.

In witness whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries signed it and appended thereto
the seals of their arms.

Done at Vienna, on the third day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and fifteen.

Castlereagh.

The Prince von Metternich.

The Prince de Talleyrand.

Separate and Secret Article.

The high contracting powers specially agree, in the present article, to call upon
the King of Bavaria, the King of Hanover, and the Sovereign Prince of the United
Provinces of the Netherlands, to assent to the treaty of to-day's date, under reason-
able conditions concerning the number of troops they may be called upon to furnish
as their share ; in their turn, the high contracting powers bind themselves to enforce
the tiill effect of the respective provisions of the treaties concerning Bavaria, Hanover,
and Holland.

It is, however, understood that in case one of the above mentioned powers should
decline to assent to the present treaty, after having been called upon to do so, as
said above, this power shall be considered as having forfeited its rights to the ad-
vantages to which it might have been entitled, in accordance with the stipulations of
to-day^s convention.

The present separate and secret article shall be as valid and binding as though it
were inserted word for word in to-day's convention ; it will be ratified and its ratifica-
tion will be exchanged at the same time.

In witness whereof the plenipotentiaries signed it and appended thereunto the
seal of their arms. Done at Vienna, the third day of January in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifteen.

( The signatures here follow. )

APPENDIX IL

King Louis XVIII., as seen in M. de Talleyrand's despatch, had received a copy
of the convention of January 3 ; the original of this convention, which latter re-
mained secret, had been deposited at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Paris. It
is asserted that, on the return of the Emperor Napoleon from Elba, a higher official
of the French Foreign Office brought him the above convention, with the object of
gaining his favour. According to another version. Napoleon himself found the con-
vention in the very desk of Louis XVIII. Be as it may, it is a fact that Napoleon
got acquainted with the convention, and lost no time in taking advantage of it.

All the members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Louis XVIII. left Paris
soon after the return of the Emperor Napoleon to the capital. M. Butiakine, a
member of the Russian legation, whose name is mentioned in one of M. de Talleyrand's
despatches, prolonged his stay. The Due de Viceuce, having become Minister of
Foreign AflFairs, summoned M. Butiakine before him, told him he had an important
communication to make to the Emperor of Russia, and asked whether he could rely
on him to deliver it, without delay. M^ Butiakine, having replied in the affirmative,
the Due de Vicence handed him, some hours afterwards, a parcel containing a copy
of the convention, and a letter in which he tried to incense the Emperor Alexander

392 THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCE TALLE YRAND.

against the treacherous allies who had deceived him. By this means, Napoleon
thought he could break the coalition.

M. Butiakine reached Vienna in the early part of April, 1815. Shortly after his
arrival, the Emperor Alexander invited Prince Mettemich to call on him, and, after
showing him the copy of the convention, said: "Do you know this?" — After en-
joying a while the perplexity of the Austrian Minister, the Czar said gently to him 1
"But let us foi^et all this ; the point is now to overthrow our common enemy, and
this document, which he himself sent me, proves how dangerous and clever he is."
— Thereupon, the Emperor Alexander threw the document in the fire, and required
from Prince Mettemich the promise that he would abstain from acquainting M. de
Talleyrand with what had just taken place. Considering himself lucky to get sa
easily out of the trouble in which he had placed himself. Prince Mettemich acquiesced
in the Czar's request, and never breathed a word of this adventure.

The Emperor Alexander thought he still wanted Prince Mettemich, which is why
he spared him in this critical circumstance. But he did not display the same indul-
gence towards M. de Talleyrand, to whom he made no allusion to the convention of
January 3, doubtless reserving his vengeance for some other occasion. The fact is
that, after the battle of Waterloo and the retum of King Louis XVIII. to Paris, the
Russian plenipotentiaries, who had been so conciliatory the year before, and who had,
on all occasions, endeavoured to lessen the claims their colleagues brought forward
against France, became as exacting as they, and supported France, in a certain
measure, against the exorbitant pretensions of the other powers, only after the retire-
ment of M. de Talleyrand and the formation of the Due de Richelieu's Cabinet..
(.J/, de Bacourt.)

END OF THE EIGHTH PART.

Iberoes of the IRations.

EDITED BY

EVELYN ABBOTT M.A., Fellow op Balliol College, Oxford.

A Series of biographical studies of the lives and work
of a number of representative historical characters about
whom have gathered the great traditions of the Nations
to which they belonged, and who have been accepted, in
many instances, as types of the several National ideals..
With the life of each typical character will be presented
a picture of the National conditions surrounding him
during his career.

The narratives are the work of writers who are recog-
nized authorities on their several subjects, and, while
thoroughly trustworthy as history, will present picturesque
and dramatic " stories " of the Men and of the events con-
nected with them.

To the Life of each " Hero " will be given one duo-
decimo volume, handsomely printed in large type, pro-
vided with maps and adequately illustrated according to
the special requirements of the several subjects. The-
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Cloth extra $I 5a

Half morocco, uncut edges, gilt top . . • i 75
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tained in sheets folded, or in clcrth, uncut
edges . . • 3 50

The first group of the Series will comprise twelve
volumes, as follows :

Nelson, and the Naval Supremacy of England. By W. Clark Russell,
author of " The Wreck of the Grosvenor," etc. (Ready April 15, 1890.)

Gustavus Adolphus, and the Struggle of Protestantism for Exist-
ence. By C. R. L. Fletcher, M.A., late Fellow of All Souls College,
Oxford.

Pericles, and the Golden Age of Athens. By Evelyn Abbott, M.A.,
Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford.

Alexander the Great, and the Extension of Greek Rule and of
Greek Ideas. By Prof. Benjamin I. Wheeler, Cornell University.

Theoderic the Goth, the Barbarian Champion of Civilization. By
Thomas Hodgkin, author of " Italy and Her Invaders," etc.

Charlemagne, the Reorganizer of Europe. By Prof. George L. Burr,

Cornell University.
Henry of Navarre, and the Huguenots in France. By P. F. Willert,

M.A., Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.
William of Orange, the Founder of the Dutch Republic.

By Ruth Putnam.
Cicero, and the Fall of the Roman Republic. By J. L. Strachan

Davidson, M.A., Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford.
Louis XIV., and the Zenith of the French Monarchy. By Arthur

Hassall, M.A., Senior Student of Christ Church College, Oxford.
Sir Walter Raleigh, and the Adventurers of England.

By A. L. Smith, M.A., Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford.
Bismarck. The Nevr German Empire : How It Arose ; What It

Replaced ; And What It Stands For. By James Sime, author of

"A Life of Lessing," etc.

To be followed by :

Hannibal, and the Struggle between Carthage and Rome.

By E. A. Freeman, D.C.L., LL.D., Regius Prof, of History in the

University of Oxford.
Alfred the Great, and the First Kingdom in England. By F. York

Powell, M.A., Senior Student of Christ Church College, Oxford.
Charles the Bold, and the Attempt to Found a Middle Kingdom.

By R. Lodge, M.A. , Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford.
John Calvin, the Hero of the French Protestants. By Owen M.

Edwards, Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford.
Oliver Cromwell, and the Rule of the Puritans in England.

By Charles Firth, Balliol College, Oxford.
Marlborough, and England as a Military Power.

By C. W. C. Oman, A.M., Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.
Julius Caesar, and the Organization of the Roman Empire.

By W. Warde Fowler, M.A., Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford.

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
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»7 AND 29 West Twenty-third Street 27 King William Street, Strand

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G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS,

New York : London :

37 and 29 west 23d street. 27 king william street, strand.

Decisive Battles since Waterloo.

A Continuation of Creasy's " Decisive Battles of the World."'

By colonel THOMAS W. KNOX,

AUTHOR OF THE " LIFE OF FULTON," " TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO," ETC.

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Contents. — I. Battle of Ayacucho, 1824 — II. Battle of Prome, 1825 — III. Battle of
Navarino, 1827 — IV. Siege of Silistria, 1829 — V. Battle of Staoueli and Fall of Algiers,
1830 — VI. Capture of Antwerp and Liberation of Belgium, 1832 — VII. Capture of the
City of Mexico, 1847 — VIII. Battle of Gujerat, 1849— IX. Capture of the Malakoff arid
the Redan, and Fall of Sebastopol, 1855 — X. Lucknow and Cawnpore, 1857—8 — XI. Cap-
ture of the Peiho Forts and Pekin, 1858-60— XII. Battle of Solferino, 1859— XIII. Battle
between the Monitor and the Merrimac, 1862 — XIV. Battle of Gettysburg, 1863 — XV.
Siege and Fall of Vicksbnrg, 1863— XVI. Battle of Five Forks and Lee's Surrender, 1865.
—XVII. Battle of Koeniggratz (Sadowa), 1866— XVIII. Battle of Gravelotte, 1870— XIX.
Battle and Fall of Sedan, 1870— XX. Fall of Khiva, 1873— XXI. Fall of Plevna, 1877 —
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Waterloo.' Professor Creasy's work has passed through many editions, and has long since
become a standard authority among historical students. In the belief that the decisive
battles since Waterloo are worthy of record in a similar form, the author has ventured to
prepare the volume of which these lines are the preface. . . . The battles here
described possess an interest for the student of military tactics and strategy. The book
has, however, for its further purpose, the idea of presenting an outline survey of the history
of the nineteenth century, considered from the point of view of its chief military events.
It is the author's hope that the results of his labors may help to make clear the character
and relative importance of these events, and to indicate their influence in shaping the history
of our own times." — Extract from Author's Preface.

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